Mycobacteria culture

Which test do we use?

Culture on liquid (BACTEC-MGIT960) and solid (Löwenstein-Jensen, Stonebrink, Ogawa with mycobactin) medium

Sampling instructions

Possible on sputum, bronchial lavage, bronchial aspirate, biopsy, purulence, gastric fluid, urine, sperm, cerebrospinal fluid, aspirate.

Storage conditions

The samples must be stored in the refrigerator at 2-8°C.
The samples can be sent at room temperature.

Important advice

The samples cannot be older than 7 days, unless a transportation medium was added (e.g. cetylpyridiniumchloride for sputum), allowing storage at room temperature for up to 1 month.

Gastric fluid sent for culture has to reach us within 3 hours. If this is impossible, the gastric fluid has to be neutralized immediately after collection (100 mg NaHCO3 per 5-10 ml of gastric fluid).