Specimen Requirements

1. Remove excess mucus with sterile culture swab and discard.
2. Aseptically insert swab into endocervical canal and collect specimen using Mini-tip CULTURETTE^TM or BBL^TM CultureSwab^TM Plus supplied from Nursing Unit Pyxis or Laboratory for Outreach Offices. (Specimen submitted in non-sterile container or specimen delayed >4 hours [unless collected on BBL^TM CultureSwab^TM Plus] is not acceptable.)

3. Move swab from side-to-side, and collect material directly from uterine cervix avoiding vaginal flora.

4. Return swab to sterile culture transport tube to ensure specimen preservation.

5. Label specimen with patient’s name (first and last), date and actual time of collection, and type of specimen.

6. Maintain sterility and forward promptly at ambient temperature only.

Note:  1. If fastidious bacteria such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Streptococcus pneumoniae is suspected, specimen should arrive within ≤24 hours of collection.

2. Collect before start of antibiotic therapy whenever possible.

3. Specimen source is required on request form for processing.