Body fluids and aspirates: include amniotic, cerebrospinal fluid, pericardial, peritoneal, pleural, synovial, and vitreous fluid-eye. Aspirated fluid collected in syringe with needle removed. Fluid may be transferred to sterile specimen container (See below, Fig. 1).

Device/Hardware: include Central Line tip transfer to sterile specimen container (See below, Fig. 1).

Respiratory fluid specimens: include bronchial alveolar lavage, bronchial brush, tracheal aspirates, sputum, sinus aspirates. Transfer to sterile specimen container (See below, Fig. 1)

Respiratory swab specimens: include epiglottis, nasal, nasopharyngeal, throat collected with Red top or Green top wire collection swabs (See below, Fig. 2 and 3)

Skin scrapings: transfer to sterile specimen container (See below, Fig. 1).

Swab specimens:  including abscess,genital, wound collected with Red top swabs (See below, Fig. 2)

Stool: transfer to sterile specimen container, no preservative added (See below, Fig. 1).

Tissue/Biopsy specimens: transfer to sterile specimen container without preservative, i.e. formalin, saline (See below, Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Workday # 120347

Fig. 2

Fig. 3
Workday # 109612

Specimen collected on COPAN Liquid Amies Collection and Transport System (White or Purple top eSwab).

OR

Workday # 129841

Body fluids and aspirates - 0.5 ml. 

Respiratory fluids/aspirates - 0.5 ml.

Specimen may be planted on culture media directly by clinician:

• Eye (ocular) sites: Acceptable media-- Sabhi agar plate

Skin scrapings collected for Dermatophyte Screen/Culture: order as Dermatophyte Screen or Dermatophyte Culture.
 

Normally sterile body fluids and tissue specimens: 1 hour--ambient

All other specimen types, including skin scrapings and swabs: 24 hours--ambient

Call Diagnostic Infections Diseases Testing Laboratory 513-636-8144 for culture agar media. 

Material or fluid from any site except blood/bone marrow:  Order Fungal Blood Culture for blood/bone marrow collection.

Syringes with needle attached

Body fluids/aspirates: Blood culture bottles, Green Top 4mL Sodium Heparin unacceptable collection container

Stool: Carey Blair preservative (orange lid) collection vials unacceptable

Detect fungi (yeast, mould) in clinical specimens other than blood/bone marrow.

Preliminary at 24 hours

Final at 4 weeks

Positive cultures reported as soon as detected