Genital Culture Information Sheet

‌Overview

MDL Test Name

Genital Culture and Gram Stain

MDL Test Code

GTL_CULT

Ask at Order Questions

N/A

Specimen Source

• Genital

• Vaginal

• Abscess

• Endocervical

• Rectovaginal

• Urethral/Penial

• Other

  
  

  ‌Specimen Requirements

  Container/Tube

• ESwab

• ESwab Minitip Flocked Collection Kit (Urogenital)

  Specimen Volume (minimum)

• N/A (swab specimen)

• Must have swab present in container

  Sample Stability Time

• 24 hours

• Please notify MDL if a STAT courier is needed to meet this time.

  Transport/Storage Conditions

• Ambient (20 – 25°C)

• DO NOT REFRIGERATE

  Patient Preparation / Collection Instructions

• Female: Do NOT use lubricant. Cervical mucus should be removed first and discarded before inserting the swab into the endocervical canal, move the swab from side to side allowing several seconds for absorption of organisms by the swab. Return the swab to the transport tube and label.

  For vaginal, wipe away excessive secretions or discharge. Obtain secretions from the mucosal membrane of the vaginal vault with the swab. Return the swab to the transport tube and label.

• Male: Using a swab, insert 2 – 4 cm into the urethral lumen, rotate the swab & leave it in place for 2 seconds. Alternatively, use a swab to collect a specimen of urethral discharge. Return the swab to the transport tube and label.

• Refer to the WSU MDL ESwab Collection Guide

  
  

  ‌Performance

  Days Performed

  Daily; Monday – Sunday

  Report Available (TAT) – (Once received at MDL)

  3 – 4 days

  Specimen Retention Time

  7 days

  Method Description

• Conventional aerobic bacterial culture technique with selective and non-selective media.

• Identification methods (when appropriate) may include any of the following: conventional biochemical testing, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry, and commercial identification panels.

• Susceptibility testing (when appropriate) may include minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) (broth microdilution or gradient strip diffusion) or disk diffusion.

  
  

  
  

  Reference Values

  
  

• No growth of pathogen

• Normal skin and/or vaginal flora isolated

• Normal skin and/or vaginal flora includes:

  • Lactobacilli

  • Corynebacterium spp

  • Gardnerella vaginalis

  • coagulase-negative staphylococci

  • Staphylococcus aureus

  • Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS)

  • Enterococcus spp

  • Escherichia coli

  • Anaerobes

  • Micrococci

  • viridans group streptococci

    
    

    Cautions

• Many agents of disease are difficult to culture. A lack of isolation does not necessarily indicate that a pathogen is not the cause of infection.

• A routine genital culture will not detect carriage of Group B Streptococcus in all cases.

• Herpes simplex virus, Chlamydia, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Trichomonas vaginalis are not recovered by this test.