Specimen Requirements

Specimen Type: Feces
Container/Tube: Screw-capped container with Cary-Blair transport medium

Specimen Volume: Any amount
Collection Instructions: Label container with patient’s name (first and last) and date and time of collection.

Additional Information: Stools for culture or other testing should be submitted into the appropriate preservatives contained in our stool collection kits. If it is not possible to obtain collection kits prior to the stool collection, a clean, covered container is acceptable as long as it is refrigerated and transferred to preservative within 2 hours.

REJECT:

1. Stools contaminated with urine or Barium.

2. Stools that have sat out at room temp. for a period greater than 2 hours.

3. With the exception of C. dificile testing, in-patient stool cultures should not be performed 3 days after hospitalization.

4. No more than 2 bacteriology specimens should be processed on all out-patients without consultation with the lab director.