Which specimen should not be refrigerated

Optimally, clinical specimens should be obtained before antimicrobial therapy commences in order to avoid loss of viability of the etiological agents. Treatment of the patient, however, should not be delayed while awaiting collection of specimens or results from the laboratory and a specimen should be obtained in all suspect cases as bacterial pathogens can still be detected even after antimicrobial therapy has begun.

They are more reliably isolated if the clinical specimens are examined as soon as possible after collection. Cerebrospinal fluid CSF should be processed in a microbiology laboratory within 1 hour after collection or inoculated into Trans-Isolate T-I medium for transport to the laboratory if processing within 1 hour is not feasible. Blood specimens should be immediately inoculated into a blood culture bottle and transported to a microbiology laboratory as soon as possible for overnight incubation and growth of bacteria.

Figure 5 describes how to collect blood from an arm by applying a tourniquet, selecting a vein, and preparing the proposed puncture site. Top of Page. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.

Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Chapter 5: Collection and Transport of Clinical Specimens. Minus Related Pages. Printer friendly version pdf icon [11 pages] The proper collection and transport of clinical specimens is critical for the isolation, identification, and characterization of agents that cause bacterial meningitis.

Biosafety It is important to adhere to proper biosafety guidelines while handling potentially infectious clinical specimens in order to maintain a safe working environment for patients, health care workers, and laboratorians. Infection may be transmitted from patient to staff and from staff to patient during the procedures described below. In addition to the agents that cause bacterial meningitis, the patient could have other bacterial or viral agents in either the CSF of blood and both are a great hazard and potentially lethal.

Of particular importance are the viruses causing hepatitis and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. To decrease the risk of transmission of these agents, the recommendations below should be followed: Wear latex or nitrile gloves that are impermeable to liquids and change gloves between every patient. Dispose of syringes and needles in a puncture-resistant, autoclavable discard container. Do not attempt to re-cap, shear, or manipulate any needle.

A new sterile syringe and needle must be used for each patient. For transport to a microbiology laboratory, place the specimen in a container that can be securely sealed. Do not use povidone-iodine on the rubber septum of a T-I or blood culture bottle. Remove gloves and discard in an autoclavable container. Ideally, the patient should not have received recent antibiotic treatment before swabbing a wound as this can affect the microbiological results. Use the blue swab to sample the area required and place into the buffer and break at the scored point.

The MRSA kit contains 2 swabs and a tube of liquid medium. The kit can be used for sampling of 2 sites. Use the pink swab for the first site and the white swab for the second site. Today's technologies allow testing on an impressively wide variety of samples collected from the human body.

Most often, all that is required is a blood sample. However, samples of urine, saliva, sputum, feces, semen, and other bodily fluids and tissues also can be tested. Obtaining a specimen involves the collection of tissue or fluids for laboratory analysis or near-patient testing , and may be the first step in determining a diagnosis and treatment Dougherty and Lister, Whole blood samples should not remain at room temperature longer than 8 hours.

Storing a urine sample Do not keep it for longer than 24 hours. The bacteria in the urine sample can multiply if it is not kept in a fridge. If this happens, it could affect the test results. Stool is stable at room temperature or refrigerated for up to 24 hours when the swab tip is saturated with stool. Specimen storage To increase the sensitivity of diagnostic testing all specimens should be stored frozen optimally at oC and shipped on dry ice with the exception of fixed tissues and specimens collected in a glass tube whole blood, whole blood EDTA, whole blood Heparin, serum separating tubes, CPT tubes, etc.

The urine specimen must be collected in a clean, dry container. Specimens collected at any time are acceptable, however, the first morning urine generally contains the highest concentration of hCG. Specimen stability: CBC: Refrigerated: 72 hours.

Room temperature: 24 hours. DIFF: Refrigerated: 72 hours. Have the patient collect the next voiding and add it as soon as possible to the 24 hour container. Add all subsequent voidings to the container as collected.

The last sample collected should be the first specimen voided the following morning 24 hours after the previous morning's first void was discarded. The following are essential safeguards for your patients. Avoid patient identification errors. Draw the tubes in the proper sequence. Use proper containers for collection. Mix all tubes ten times by gentle inversion immediately after collection. Do not decant specimens from one type of container into another.

Through collection and preservation efforts, new species are found and described. Specimens in museums, along with the data provided on the specimen labels constitute an historic record of biological diversity and can be used to document changes in distribution and abundance of species over time.

Most commonly these are blood, urine, saliva, sputum, faeces, semen and other bodily fluids, as well as tissue.

Some tests can be performed on more than one type of sample. For example, glucose testing can be performed on blood, urine and other samples.