Container Types: BBL Culture swab (Liquid Stuart swab)
Preferred Draw Volume
Both Stuart's swabs
Unacceptable Conditions
Swab with wooden shaft, Amies transport swab with charcoal; Cervical, perianal, perirectal, or perineal specimens. A speculum should not be used for sample collection.
Collection Comments
Please note additional source, specimen, and contact information.
Note if susceptibilities are needed on positive screens.
Indicate site, patient age, current antibiotic therapy, and clinical diagnosis. Send to the laboratory as soon as possible.
Sterile swab in Amies transport with charcoal is NOT acceptable. Use Stuart's or Amies without charcoal.
Storage/Transport Temperature
24 hours at ambient temperature
Specimens stored at 2-8°C (refrigerated) are stable for up to six days.
Stability (from collection to initiation)
Refrigerated samples may be held up to 6 days prior to testing
Ordering Recommendations
A Genital-BSB-SS test is a screening test for Lancefield Group B Streptococcus (GBS), or Streptococcus agalactiae. Anovaginal swabs are incubated in an enrichment broth that optimizes recovery of GBS. Next, broths are analyzed for GBS by NAAT (nucleic acid amplification test). Professional organizations recommend that pregnant women be tested for GBS at 35 - 37 weeks of gestation. When indicated, these patients should receive therapy for this organism prior to labor and delivery. Infants exposed to GBS during delivery are at risk for developing GBS-associated septicemia, a severe, and possibly fatal, bacterial infection of neonates. Note: Antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) is not routinely performed. If a patient is allergic to penicillin, please notify the Division of Clinical Microbiology so that AST can be performed on GBS isolates.
Container Types: BBL Culture swab (Liquid Stuart swab)
Preferred Draw Volume
Both Stuart's swabs
Unacceptable Conditions
Swab with wooden shaft, Amies transport swab with charcoal; Cervical, perianal, perirectal, or perineal specimens. A speculum should not be used for sample collection.
Collection Comments
Please note additional source, specimen, and contact information.
Note if susceptibilities are needed on positive screens.
Indicate site, patient age, current antibiotic therapy, and clinical diagnosis. Send to the laboratory as soon as possible.
Sterile swab in Amies transport with charcoal is NOT acceptable. Use Stuart's or Amies without charcoal.
Storage/Transport Temperature
24 hours at ambient temperature
Specimens stored at 2-8°C (refrigerated) are stable for up to six days.
Stability (from collection to initiation)
Refrigerated samples may be held up to 6 days prior to testing
Ordering
Ordering Recommendations
A Genital-BSB-SS test is a screening test for Lancefield Group B Streptococcus (GBS), or Streptococcus agalactiae. Anovaginal swabs are incubated in an enrichment broth that optimizes recovery of GBS. Next, broths are analyzed for GBS by NAAT (nucleic acid amplification test). Professional organizations recommend that pregnant women be tested for GBS at 35 - 37 weeks of gestation. When indicated, these patients should receive therapy for this organism prior to labor and delivery. Infants exposed to GBS during delivery are at risk for developing GBS-associated septicemia, a severe, and possibly fatal, bacterial infection of neonates. Note: Antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) is not routinely performed. If a patient is allergic to penicillin, please notify the Division of Clinical Microbiology so that AST can be performed on GBS isolates.
