Specimen Requirements

Specimen must arrive within 24 hours of collection.

1. Instruct patient to expectorate a deep cough specimen with minimal saliva contamination into a sterile container. A morning collection is usually the most productive.

2. Label container with patient's name, 2nd identifier, specimen source, and date and time of collection.

3. Send specimen refrigerated.

4. Maintain sterility and forward promptly.

Note: 1. Specimen source is required on request form for processing.