Throat culture

Throat culture

Purpose	diagnose bacteria or fungal infection in throat

A throat culture is a laboratory diagnostic test that evaluates for the presence of a bacterial or fungal infection in the throat. A sample from the throat is collected by swabbing the throat and placing the sample into a special cup (culture) that allows infections to grow. If an organism grows, the culture is positive and the presence of an infection is confirmed. The type of infection is found using a microscope, chemical tests, or both. If no infection grows, the culture is negative. Common infectious organisms tested for by a throat culture include Candida albicans known for causing thrush and Group A streptococcus known for causing strep throat,^[1] scarlet fever, and rheumatic fever.^[1] Throat cultures are more sensitive (81% sensitive) than the rapid strep test (70%) for diagnosing strep throat, but are nearly equal in terms of specificity.^[1]

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Purpose

A throat culture may be done to investigate the cause of a sore throat. Most sore throats are caused by viral infections. However, in some cases the cause of a sore throat may be unclear and a throat culture can be used to determine if the infection is bacterial. Identifying the responsible organism can guide treatment.

Technique

The person receiving the throat culture is asked to tilt his or her head back and open his or her mouth. The health professional will press the tongue down with a tongue depressor and examine the mouth and throat. A clean swab will be rubbed over the back of the throat, around the tonsils, and over any red areas or sores to collect a sample.

The sample may also be collected using a throat washout. For this test, the patient will gargle a small amount of salt water and then spit the fluid into a clean cup. This method gives a larger sample than a throat swab and may make the culture more reliable.

A culture for Streptococcus pyogenes can take 18–24 hours when grown at 37 degrees Celsius (body temperature).^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Regoli M, Chiappini E, Bonsignori F, Galli L, de Martino M (January 2011). "Update on the management of acute pharyngitis in children". Ital J Pediatr. 37: 10. doi:10.1186/1824-7288-37-10. PMC 3042010. PMID 21281502.

Techniques in clinical microbiology

Isolation
and culture

Isolation techniques	Asepsis Streak plate Selective media
Cultures by body site	Blood culture Genital culture Sputum culture Throat culture Urine culture Wound culture
Cultures by organism	Bacterial culture Fungal culture Viral culture

Identification
and testing

Manual testing: basic techniques	Colonial morphology Hemolysis Staining Gram stain Acid-fast stain Giemsa stain India ink stain Ziehl–Neelsen stain Wet prep Rapid tests Oxidase Catalase Indole PYR
Manual testing: biochemical and immunologic tests	ALA test Amino acid decarboxylase test Bile solubility test CAMP test Citrate test Coagulase test DNAse test IMViC KOH test Methyl red test Nitrite test ONPG test Oxidative/fermentation glucose test Phenylalanine deaminase test Reverse CAMP test Salt tolerance test Sulfide indole motility test Triple sugar iron test Urease test rapid Voges–Proskauer test X and V factor test Bacitracin susceptibility test Optochin susceptibility test Novobiocin susceptibility test Lancefield grouping RPR test
Automated and point-of-care testing	Analytical profile index MALDI-TOF Polymerase chain reaction VITEK system Rapid strep test Monospot test
Antibiotic susceptibility testing	Beta-lactamase test Disk diffusion test Etest McFarland standards Minimum inhibitory concentration

Equipment

This page was last edited on 1 December 2023, at 02:46

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Transcription

Purpose

Technique

See also

References