Urine Culture and Sesitivity Test

Urine Culture and Sensitivity

A urine culture and sensitivity test may be ordered by a doctor if you are experiencing pain in your lower back or gastric region, chills, fever, or for burning or painful urination. These are signs of a urinary tract infection; the urinary system consists of kidneys, bladder, and urethra. Once a urinary culture and sensitivity or urinary C&S has been ordered a specimen of the patient’s urine must be collected. The most common way to do this is the clean catch method which is a mid-stream collection. The patient is given a kit and instructions to use cleansing wipes to clean urethral opening begin voiding then catch urine sample in mid-stream. Once specimen is obtained the urine is drawn into sterile straw into sterile vacuum tube. The vacuum tube contains a preservative that is not toxic to microorganism in specimen (Estridge, Reynolds, 2008).

The specimen is then sent enroot to the lab this specimen must be transported and processed in such a way to prevent any contamination. Once the specimen reaches the microbiology lab it must be cultured within one hour if it has not been refrigerated; However if it has been refrigerated the sample may be stored for up to twenty four hours before plating the sample. A urine culture is a process that allows growth and identification of any bacteria or microorganisms that may be in the urine. Normal urine does not contain any bacteria or microorganisms (Finegold and Baron, 1998). Females are more prone to urinary tract infections due to the fact that the female urethra is closer to the anus. This may allow bacteria from the intestines to come into contact with the urethra more easily. Men actually have an antibacterial substance in there prostate gland which greatly reduces the risk of urinary tract infections in men.

To be more specific a urine culture is a procedure where 0.01mls or 0.001mls of urine is placed on to a sterile agar by using