Ear, nose, throat and eye swabs

Throat and quinsy swabs, mouth, dental and tongue swabs, nose and pernasal swabs, eye and conjunctival swabs and ear swabs. Microbiology will perform isolation, identification and susceptibility testing of organisms likely to be pathogenic at the site swabbed. Turn around time 2-3 days (positive and negative results)

Please clearly indicate if certain pathology is suspected as specific additional culture media and methodology is required for certain organisms. For throat or oropharyngeal swabs this is relevant for Diptheria, meningococcal carriage, candidiasis, Vincent’s angina, Staph aureus carriage (see also MRSA screen ordering) and whooping cough/Bordetella pertussis. In the case of whooping cough a pernasal (not a standard nose swab) is required.

For eye swabs: If acanthamoeba is suspected in an eye infection please refer to information on acanthamoeba testing. If chlamydial testing in addition to routine culture is required e.g in ophthalmia neoatorum please ensure that a specific chlamydial swab is sent in addition to a routine Amies swab.