Quick Review Cards for Medical Laboratory Science

Specimen Preservation and Storage Clinical Microbiology Review 143

SPECIMEN PRESERVATIVE OR TRANSPORT DEVICE STORAGE TEMPERATURE (UNPRESERVED)

Anaerobes

CSF

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Sputum

Stool for culture

Stool for ova & parasites

Urine

Viruses

25 °C. Don’t refrigerate

25 °C or 35°C. Don’t refrigerate

25 °C. Don’t refrigerate

4 °C

4 °C. Best to process without delay. Refrigera-

tion may kill Shigella

Can hold formed specimens at 4°C. Soft

or liquid specimens should be examined

immediately or preserved

4 °C for not more than 24 hr

4 °C. For delay >24 hr, freeze at −70°C

Anaerobic transport systems to eliminate O 2

None

Amies transport medium with charcoal, Transgrow,

JEMBEC plates, Gono-Pak, BioBag (best to inoculate

medium directly)

None

Transport media, e.g., Cary-Blair transport medium if

specimen can’t be cultured within 2 hr of collection

Depending on procedures to be performed: polyvinyl

alcohol (PVA), 10% formalin, sodium acetate–acetic

acid–formalin (SAF), merthiolate-iodine-formalin (MIF),

others without formaldehyde or mercury (e.g., Ecofix,

Parasafe)

Transport tubes with boric acid–glycerol if specimen

can’t be processed within 2 hr of collection

Viral transport medium