Tuberculosis Kit

Instructions

1. Open the biohazard bag and remove the sterile container.
2. Instruct the patient to not rinse mouth with tap water before producing sputum specimens. Do not submit pure saliva or nasal secretions.
3. For sputum specimens, collect 3 specimens (either spontaneous or induced) on the same day, a minimum of 1 hour apart, or if feasible, collected on 3 consecutive early mornings into separate containers and submit to the laboratory upon completion. Five ml sputum is optimal; the patient may expectorate several times during each collection.
4. Do not pool specimens.
5. Replace cap on container closing tightly.
6. Label the specimen container with the patient’s full name, date of collection and one other unique identifier such as the patient’s date of birth or Health Card Number. Failure to provide this information may result in rejection or testing delay.
7. Complete all fields of the General Test Requisition: include, the patient’s full name, date of birth, Health Card Number (must match the specimen label), enter ‘Mycobacteria Culture’ under test description, source of specimen (indicate if sputum is induced), date of onset, date of collection, physician name and address, and clinical diagnosis. If the patient has cystic fibrosis (CF), indicate on the requisition.
8. Place specimen container in the biohazard bag and seal bag.
9. Insert the completed requisition in the pocket on the outside of the sealed biohazard bag.
10. Transport the specimen to the laboratory as soon as possible after collection. If transport is delayed more than one hour the specimen must be refrigerated (exception of cerebrospinal fluid specimens should be transported at room temperature).
11. For further information about Mycobacteria culture specimen collection refer to the Test Directory Index.

Storage of unused kits

The kits can be stored at room temperature with stated expiry date – DO NOT USE EXPIRED KITS