Additional Testing Requirements

If specimens are collected from multiple sites on the body (ie, left and right), each specimen must be sent under a separate order.

Specimen Required

Specimen Type: Body fluid

Collection Container/Tube:

Preferred: Sterile container, syringe (with needle removed), test tube, or microtube

Acceptable: Plain cotton swab, pledget, gauze, or facial tissue

Specimen Volume: 0.5 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. If submitting a syringe, remove the needle. Add cap to end of syringe.

2. If direct collection is not feasible, specimen may be collected using a plain cotton swab, pledget, gauze or facial tissue.

 a. For gauze or facial tissue: circle area on the gauze where specimen was collected.

 b. For swab, pledget, gauze or facial tissue: place in a small container (plain test tube or sterile container).

3. Do not collect specimen with a culture swab.

4. Do not add any additional liquid other than source to the swab or gauze.

5. Do not collect or send swab or gauze specimens in containers with additional liquids or additives.

Additional Information:

1. Although results may be obtainable on smaller specimens (perhaps as little as 0.05 mL, depending on the protein concentrations and percentage of spinal fluid in the specimen), reliable results are best obtained with an adequate specimen volume.

2.Specimens collected with additives such as microbiology media (eg, Stuart or Amies liquid medium) or TransFix/EDTA (used for analyses in flow cytometry) yield uninterpretable results and will be rejected.