IMRL
| Full details for "Mycobacteria - Culture". | |
|---|---|
Name |
Mycobacteria - Culture |
Alternative name/Profile |
tubercle bacillus / TB / Mycobacteria tuberculosis / M. tuberculosis complex / MTC / M. africanum / M. bovis / M. bovis BCG / M. caprae / M. microti / M. canetti / M. chimaera / Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria / NTM / M. avium-intracellulare complex ( MAC ) / M. avium / M. chelonae / M. abscessus / M. fortuitum / M.gordonae / M. intracellulare / M scrofulaceum / M interjectum / M. kansasii / M malmoense / M peregrinum / M. marinum / M. ulcerans / M. xenopi / M. simiae / M. mucogenicum / M. goodii / M. cellatum / M. smegmatis / M. genavense / M. lentiflavum / M. heckeshornense / M. szulgai / M. intermedium / M. phlei / M. hemophilum / M. gastri / M. asiaticum / M. shimoidei / tuberculin skin test / Bacillus Calmette-Guérin ( BCG ) vaccine / Mantoux test / acid fast bacillus / AFB / acid-fast stain / Ziehl-Neelsen stain / ZN stain / Kinyoun stain / fluorescence microscopy / auramine-rhodamine stain / Auramine O / Rhodamine B / hazard group 3 / category 3 pathogen / Mycobacterium / M. chimaera |
Department |
IMRL |
Investigation |
|
Specimen type |
Refer to IMRL User Manual; specimen depends on clinical presentation. |
Sample type |
|
Sample container & volume |
Sterile universal container (Ideally 2-10 mL of fluid from normally sterile sites including CSF) Refer to IMRL user manual for further details. |
Frequency of analysis |
Daily |
Turnaround time |
Microscopy: 2 days. Culture: 8 weeks, Positive results telephoned as soon as available. |
Availability |
Monday - Friday: 08:00 - 20:00. Urgent specimens may be processed out of hours. Please contact laboratory. |
Notes |
All specimens are incubated in liquid culture media for 6 weeks and on solid media for 8 weeks. The time to culture positivity varies most considerably depending on whether the culture is positive or negative by microscopy. Current guidelines recommend that a TB laboratory should try to identify M. tuberculosis complex within 21 days of specimen receipt and determine susceptibility within 30 days of specimen receipt. Turnaround times for cultures are dependent on a pure culture containing sufficient mycobacteria for analysis. Urine will only be processed where a diagnosis of renal tuberculosis is suspected, the patient is immunocompromised or following prior discussion with a laboratory doctor. In such cases early morning urine on each of three consecutive days should be supplied. Faeces is NOT a suitable sample for TB culture. The IMRL policy is that the first 3 smear positive sputum specimens are cultured and an isolate from one of these three specimens is identified and susceptibility tests performed. Microscopy alone is performed on subsequent sputum samples and culture is only performed again after a month has passed and monthly, if requested, thereafter. If M. tuberculosis is recovered after three months of therapy the susceptibility tests are repeated. When a specimen is procured it must be sent to the laboratory immediately. Batching of specimens is not recommended. Should a delay be unavoidable (e.g. weekends) specimens should be refrigerated until transported |
Related links |
The National TB Advisory Committee, as part of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), has prepared Guidelines on the Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in Ireland. The Stop TB Initiative was established following the meeting of the First ad hoc Committee on the Tuberculosis Epidemic held in London in March 1998.For further information please consult: http://www.stoptb.org/ |
Reference range |
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Last updated |
Fri, 12 Jan 2024 09:53:30 GMT |