Important Note

Please see Blood Culture Collection Protocol

1. Collect as per standard protocol. Ask the physician to rinse the syringe with heparin before collecting the specimen.

2. As soon as the specimen is obtained, place a clean sterile needle on the syringe.

3. Swab the rubber stopper top of the aerobic blood culture bottle well with an alcohol wipe before inoculation.

4. Inject ½ the specimen obtained into a sterile screw-capped vial for AFB send-out (2mL if possible). Part of this specimen will be used to set up Blood and Chocolate agar plates when back in the laboratory.

5. Inject the other ½ of the specimen into an aerobic blood culture bottle. Rinse the syringe with some of the broth to obtain maximum inoculum.