What is a Microbial Culture?

A microbial culture is one of the diagnostic methods of microbiology and is used to determine the cause of an infectious disease by allowing the microorganism to multiply in certain specific media under controlled laboratory conditions. This helps to determine the type as well as severity of the infection by doing a colony count of the organism in the specimen.

Types of Specimen for Microbial Culture

Microbial infections may be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites and the specimen to be collected for culture depends on the signs and symptoms of the disease. The correct amount of specimen should ideally be collected before starting treatment with an antimicrobial agent, like an antibiotic, and once extracted, it should be transported immediately to the laboratory for culturing. Special precautions should be taken to avoid contamination of the specimen by organisms in the surrounding skin, mucus membrane and air, during collection. Sensitivity tests may also be done to determine the relative susceptibility of individual microorganisms to certain drugs.

The types of specimen that may be used for culture are :

  • Blood (Refer to Blood Culture)
  • Sputum (Refer to Sputum Culture)
  • Urine
  • Stool
  • Cerebrospinal  fluid (CSF)
  • Wound exudates
  • Pus
  • Respiratory secretions
  • Throat swab
  • Urethral discharge
  • Vaginal or cervical discharge
  • Skin scrapings
  • Exudates or pus from the ears and eyes
  • Bronchoscopic culture

Further Reading :
  • Sputum or Phlegm Bacteria Culture Lab Test
  • Bacteria Blood Culture Lab Test