1.

Touching the tongue inside of the mouth and not the tonsils only because it will contaminate
with the normal flora of the mouth
2. Collecting urine in the wrong container, not cleansing the area before collection, placing the
label on the wrong place on the container
3. It can be contaminated with urine and they often contain bacteriostatic chemicals
4. To reduce the number of oral bacteria present that can contaminate the sputum sample
5. Because the swab is more prone to drying and it also may not pick up sufficient bacteria for
culture
6. Both alcohol and iodine are used because the alcohol removes dirt and skin oils and the iodine
acts as an antiseptic so prepare the skin
7. They are sent to either regional reference or hospital labs because most small labs do not
culture specimens from wounds because of the many types of microorganisms that can cause
the infection, the different types of media requires and the varying growth environments that
might be required
8. Transport supplies must protect the specimen from contamination as well as protect the
transporter and personnel at the receiving lab, the specimen can be placed in a sealed biohazard
bag, inside an outer container, or in metal or cardboard tubes, ALL transport containers must be
labeled as containing biohazardous material and must meet all government transportation
regulations
9. A nasal culture can be used to determine if a person is a carrier of MRSA
10. Carrier; an individual who harbors an organism and is capable of spreading the organism to
others, but has no symptoms or signs of disease
Culture; growth of microorganisms in a special medium; the process of growing microorganisms
in the laboratory
Culture medium; a substance used to provide nutrients for growing microorganisms
Escherichia coli; a bacterium that is part of the normal flora of the intestines
Sepsis; the presence of microorganisms and/or their toxic products in the blood and other
tissues
Septicemia; the presence and growth of pathogenic microorganisms in the blood
Streptococcus pyogenes; bacterium that causes a common type of streptococcal infection, most
notably “strep” throat
Transport medium; containers specially designed to provide nutrients and an environment that
preserves the viability of microorganisms during transport
Virulent; highly infectious
Wound; a break in the continuity of soft parts of the body structure; trauma to tissues