PDA

View Full Version : qustion about urine culture for urinary tract infection-


chozen
11-22-2011, 10:29 PM
i called the dr. office this morn to see if i could just bring a culture in from my dd and they said that would be fine. i collected the culture and could not get it to the dr. office for another hr. and a half so it sat on counter in ziplock baggy.

my question is do you think this is to long for a culture to sit? i did talk to them at the dr. office and they thought it SHOULD be ok. they did tell me i could bring in another culture but i do not have another container and it has to be there by 8:00am because the lab sends them out before they even open the office for the day. will this be ok, i keep second guessing myself.
elephantmeg
11-22-2011, 10:31 PM
it should be OK
SnuggleBuggles
11-22-2011, 10:33 PM
I think it'd be fine. If bacteria is present, it still will be, right?

Beth
chozen
11-22-2011, 10:35 PM
I think it'd be fine. If bacteria is present, it still will be, right?

Beth

the nurse said i should have put it in the frig.
lalasmama
11-23-2011, 01:32 AM
the nurse said i should have put it in the frig.

Yes, it should be stored in the fridge if it will take more than an hour from collection to doctor's office drop off. That being said, plenty of samples are left out at every doctor's office, then sent for culture. The fridge is the ideal, but it didn't happen. Personally, I would trust the results (positive *or* negative), if it was out less than 3 hours.
trcy
11-23-2011, 10:23 AM
FYI Urine left out can falsely develop crystals. So if they are doing a UA with the culture and they tell you there are crystals in her urine keep that in mind. I would also be concerned about false bacteria growth, but I am not sure about that.
JenaW
11-23-2011, 11:50 AM
I would THINK (though I am not 100% certain) that the type of bacteria that grows would be present regardless (I think the refrigeration simply slows the growth of what's already there, and prevents new bacteria from forming). For instance, most UTIs in young girls are caused by E. coli, which I don't think spontaneously develops in the air. So if there is e coli present, it is from the urinary tract and not bc you didn't refrigerate the sample. Does that make sense? And by the same token, a bacteria that MAY appear bc the sample was not refrigerated would probably not be a common urinary bacteria, and therefore the sample (when grown in culture) would not be recorded as pos.