Microbiology

The sample must be taken before antibiotic therapy is initiated.

In order to avoid the death of bacteria during transport, samples for microbiological testing must always be sent in a growth medium.

Samples for bacterial cultures may be kept in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days if it is not possible to send them immediately. This is also true for milk and urine samples in tubes with stabilising substances.

Anaerobic germs and particularly sensitive bacteria, such as haemolytic streptococcus β and haemophilus spp., cannot be conserved and must be sent to the laboratory immediately.

Samples which are naturally sterile, such as blood and synovial fluid, must be processed as quickly as possible for testing, because an infection can lead to false results due to even a small change in the concentration and the spectrum of the pathogen strains.

Sampling equipment for microbiology

• Tubes with a transport medium
  Universal sterile tubes with AMIES or STUART transport media are designed for testing aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, yeast, fungus, mycoplasmas, Bordetella, Nocardia and actinomycetes. Other sampling equipment may contain substances which could damage the bacteria and are detrimental to their identification.
• Sterile tubes
  For transporting liquid samples, such as urine, milk, puncture fluid, etc. and for transporting hair and other skin appendages, it is advisable to use sampling tubes with a screw top.