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A sputum culture is a test to detect and identify bacteria [1] or fungi that infect the lungs or breathing passages. Sputum is a thick fluid produced in the lungs and in the adjacent airways. Normally, fresh morning sample is preferred for the bacteriological examination of sputum. [ 2 ]
The best sputum samples contain very little saliva, [2] as saliva contaminates the sample with oral bacteria. This is especially true for samples for laboratory testing in cytology or microbiology. Specimen adequacy is assessed by the laboratory technologists by examining a Gram stain or cytology stain of the sputum.
In the decade of the 2000s, the two most common commercially available tests were the amplified mycobacterium tuberculosis direct test (MTD, Gen-Probe) and Amplicor (Roche Diagnostics). In 2007, a systematic review of NAAT by the NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme concluded that "NAAT test accuracy to be far superior when applied to ...
Historically, biochemical tests have been an important tool used to discriminate between Staphylococcus species. [20] [8] Tests used to identify S. pseudintermedius specifically include DNase, [13] hyaluronidase, [22] coagulase, catalase, and acetoin production tests, amongst others. [8]
The lung microbiota is the pulmonary microbial community consisting of a complex variety of microorganisms found in the lower respiratory tract particularly on the mucous layer and the epithelial surfaces. These microorganisms include bacteria, fungi, viruses and bacteriophages. The bacterial part of the microbiota has been more closely studied.
Initial work identifying the two common bacterial causes, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Klebsiella pneumoniae, was performed by Carl Friedländer [155] and Albert Fraenkel [156] in 1882 and 1884, respectively. Friedländer's initial work introduced the Gram stain, a fundamental laboratory test still used today to identify and categorize bacteria.
Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), also known as bronchoalveolar washing, is a diagnostic method of the lower respiratory system in which a bronchoscope is passed through the mouth or nose into an appropriate airway in the lungs, with a measured amount of fluid introduced and then collected for examination.
Whether bacteria also travel from the sinuses or the stomach into the lungs is, as of 2005, controversial. However, spread to the lungs from the blood stream or the gut is uncommon. Once inside the lungs, bacteria then take advantage of any deficiencies in the immune system (such as due to malnutrition or chemotherapy) and multiply.