Specimen Collection
Use the purple top Copan swab Amies gel transport tube.
Collect a high vaginal swab.
Specimen transport
Store and transport at room temperature. Swabs must reach the testing site within 8 hours from collection.
Rejection criteria
-
Swabs received greater than 8 hours old.
-
Dry swabs (not in transport media).
Turnaround Time: At least 2 days
Test performed daily, result available in 48 hours.
Diagnostic Use and Interpretation
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common vaginal infection. It is especially significant in pregnant women where it may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes including pre-term labour.
The diagnosis of BV is based on the Gram stain method by Nugent. This is a standardised system using a scoring of different bacterial species present in the vaginal Gram. As the variety of bacterial present can differ considerably, particularly in recurrent BV, the interpretation of the Gram stain can be difficult. This may result in an indeterminate result and a repeat specimen may be useful.
The result may also indicate the specimen does not meet specific criteria for the interpretation of BV, such as insufficient epithelial cells, yeast cells present, excess Gram positive cocci or age (less than 13 or greater than 50).
See also:
Sexually transmitted infections
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