Specimen Collection
Swabs are not the best or most reliable vehicle for collecting material for Microbiology and should be limited to skin and mucus membrane samples.
They should not be used to sample collections of pus. Where possible, the preferred samples are biopsy or aspirates.
Clearly define the site of collection and please give full relevant clinical details.
Exclude indigenous flora by cleaning the surface.
Once collected, place swab in transport medium.
For Virology swabs, refer to collection details under Virology.
General bacteriology: All sites.
Anaerobic bacteriology: refer to anaerobic culture
Genital tract: refer to sexually transmitted infections
MRSA: refer to MRSA screen
Multi-resistant organism (MRO): refer to MRO screen
Newborn Body Swabs
Tuberculosis pus: refer to Tuberculous specimens
Turnaround Time:
Culture reports on positives are issued immediately.
Negative or interim reports issued after 48 hours.
Mycology: an interim report is issued on any positive culture. Negative reports are issued after 10 days.
Contact Information
For further information, contact the Microbiology Department via Lablink or the Clinical Microbiologist:
Lablink contact details
Dr Sally Roberts
, Microbiologist:
ext 22705
Cellphone
021 674 140
Dr Sharmini Muttaiyah
, Microbiologist:
ext 22700
Cellphone
021 615 892
Dr Mary de Almeida
, Microbiologist:
ext 22700
Cellphone
021 170 9117
Dr Matthew Blakiston
, Microbiologist: contact via Lablink