general concepts of specimen collection and waste management

1. Specimen collection and waste
management
Prepared by
Samira fattah
Assis. Lec.
College of health sciences-HMU
Lab. 4

2. Specimen collection

3. Why specimen collection is Important
in Microbiology
 Specimen collection and transportation are critical
considerations , because any results the laboratory generates is
limited by the quality of the specimen and its condition on
arrival in the laboratory.
 Specimens should be obtained properly to minimize the
possibility of introducing contaminating microorganisms that are
not involved in the infectious process.

4. Containers and swab for the
collection of specimens:
Containers:
For faeces:-
• Universal container
• Spoon attached to the
inside of the screw cap

5. For urine:-
• Universal container for small
quantities
• For larger quantities 250 ml wide
mouthed screw-capped bottles are
convenient
For sputum:-
• Universal container should
not be used
• wide-mouthed disposable
containers should be used

6. For blood:-
• Without anticoagulant for
serological examination
• With EDTA for parasitological
examination
 BLOOD CULTURE BOTTLE:
• This must be at least large
enough to hold 50ml of liquid
medium ,with which it is issued
from laboratory ,plus 5-10ml of
patient’s blood

7. Syringe and needle for aspiration.
• Wound pus
• CSF
• Pleural effusion
• Amniotic fluid
• Synovial fluid

8. Swabs:-
Swabs suitable for taking Specimens
of exudates from the throat, nose,
ear , skin, wounds and other accessible
Lesions.
it consist of a sterile pledget of
absorbent material, usually cotton-wool
or synthetic fiber, mounted on a thin wire
of stick
Swabs for special purpose:
 Baby swabs
 Pernasal swabs
 Post-nasal swabs
 Laryngeal swabs
 High vaginal and cervical swabs

9. Specimen collection guidelines
• Time of collection
1. During the acute phase
2. Before antimicrobial therapy
3. Time of the day (1st
morning)
• Contamination
– Normal flora
• Specimen containers
• Sterile, leak proof

10. Labeling Specimen
• Each sample must have a label attached to the specimen
container bearing the following information:
• Patient name
• Type of specimen.
• Collection date and time.
• Test requested.
• Name of ordering physician.

11. Specimen transport
• Many microorganisms are susceptible to environmental
conditions, thus use of special preservative or holding media
for transport of specimens delay for more than 2hr. is
important to ensure organism viability.
– Keep organism viable not encourage growth(Nonnutritive)
– Examples
• Stuart’s medium
• Cary – Blair medium

12. • Specimens should be in tightly sealed and transported in
sealable, leak-proof plastic bags.

13. • Specimen Transport Bag

14. Specimen rejection criteria
• Unlabeled or improperly labeled specimen
• Mismatch information
• Improper container(nonsteril) or medium(anaerobic bacteria in aerobic
medium)
• Improper temperature
• Insufficient specimen quantity
• Leaking container
• Dried out swab
• Late specimen( more than 2hr. not preserved)
Physician must be informed about rejection

15. Waste management

16. Microbiological waste includes
- Contaminated Sharps:
• syringes with/without Needles
• slides
• slide covers
• specimen tubes
- Contaminated Solids:
• culture dishes
• flasks
• Petri dishes
• gloves, gowns, masks,
- Liquid
• Liquid growth media.
• Human body fluids:
-Blood and its components
-Cerebrospinal and synovial fluid
-Semen fluid
-Vaginal secretions

17. Disposal methods
• Incineration
Controlled incineration at high temperatures (over 1000°C)
is one of the few technologies with which all types of health-care waste
can be treated properly and it has the advantage of significantly reducing
the volume and weight of the wastes treated.

18. Disposal methods
• Chemical disinfection
o Chemicals are added to the wastes to kill or inhibit
pathogens.
o This type of treatment is suitable mainly for
treating liquid infectious wastes such as blood,
urine, feces or hospital sewage.
o Typically, a 1% bleach (sodium hypochlorite)
solution or a diluted active chlorine solution (0.5%)
is used.

19. Disposal methods
• Autoclaving
Autoclaving is environmentally safe but in most
cases it requires electricity, which is why in some
regions it is not always suitable for treating
wastes.

20. Disposal methods
• Needle extraction or destruction
o Some appliances run on electricity (destroying the
needles by melting). But cannot be used widely
particularly in remote areas.
o Needles can also be removed from syringes
immediately after the injection by means of small
manually operated devices. The needles are then
discarded into the sharps pit.

21. Disposal methods
• Shredders
o Shredders cut the waste into small pieces.
o They are often built into closed chemical or
thermal disinfection systems.
o Shredding, which in certain circumstances
provides a means of recycling plastics and
needles, should be considered whenever needles
and syringes are available in large quantities.

22. Disposal methods
• Encapsulation
o Encapsulation (or solidification) involves filling containers with
waste(sharps, chemical or pharmaceutical residues, or incinerator ash)
adding an immobilizing material(such as plastic foam, bituminous sand,
lime, cement mortar, or clay ),once the medium has dried, the containers
are sealed and disposed of in a sanitary landfill or waste burial pit.
o The purpose of the treatment is to prevent humans and the environment
from any risk of contact.

23. Waste Containers
• Containers must be:
-appropriate for the contents
-not leak
-be properly labeled
and
-maintain their integrity if chemical or thermal treatment is
used.
• Containers of biohazardous material should be kept closed.

24. Waste Containers
• Contaminated Sharps

25. Waste Containers
• Contaminated Solids

26. Waste Containers
• Contaminated liquid
Liquids should be placed in borosilicate
or polypropylene containers for
autoclaving.

27. Waste Containers
• Human tissues
They are usually red, and are
labeled with the biohazard
symbol and the words
Pathological Waste.

28. Waste Containers
• Biohazard bags
Biohazard Bags have the biohazard symbol
printed on them as well as usage instructions
for proper handling and personnel safety.

29. LABORATORY EXERCISE
Task: Take the tonsillar swab and cultivate the obtained specimen.
-Method:
A pair of students will take the tonsillar swab from one another by using a cotton swab.
1. Sign your name on the bottom of the Petri dish with blood agar .
2. Wipe off the obtained swab on the surface of the blood and make the inoculum . The used swab
will be then put into the beaker with the disinfectant on the table.
3. Incubate the inoculated plate at 37oC for 24 hours and put plates "upside down" to prevent
condensation of water on the surface of the agar.
4. In the next laboratory you will read the results of your bacteriological culture and describe
observed bacterial colonies .