Culture and Sensitivity Throat Swab
Also known as Culture And Sensitivity Aerobic Throat SwabWhat is this test?
Throat swab culture and sensitivity is a technique predominantly used to test the sensitivity of the aerobic bacteria, which can infect the throat. This test is done on both males and females to find out whether the throat is infected by a bacteria or not.
What are Throat, Bacteria, Aerobic Bacteria, and their types?
The throat is the passage from the back of the mouth or front part of the neck. It contains pharynx and larynx.Bacteria can cause infection to the throat.
Bacteria are the single-celled micro-organisms that can live within the soil, in the ocean and also inside the human gut. They have a number of shapes such as spirals, rods, and spheres etc. Some bacteria can cause illness to the human body and some other plays a major role in the overall functioning of our ecosystem.
Aerobic bacteria are the bacteria which can survive in the presence of oxygen only. In the absence of oxygen, aerobic bacteria cannot survive and can die. Some of the aerobic bacteria are Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Nocardia, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis etc.
Why this test is performed?
This test is performed to check if an individual throat is infected by an aerobic bacteria or not. This test may be recommended to you by a physician if you experience symptoms such as redness, swelling and white pus on the tonsils, red spots in the roof of the mouth, body aches, swollen neck, sore throat, chills, runny nose, scratchy throat, fever, headache etc.
This test also helps the doctors to plan the treatment according to the type of bacteria, that infects the throat. The test is also performed to check the effectiveness of the treatment.
Also known as C/S Aerobic Throat Swab.
Test Preparation
Inform your doctor if you are on any medications, have any allergies or underlying medical conditions before your Culture and Sensitivity Throat Swab. Your doctor will give specific instructions depending on your condition on how to prepare for Culture and Sensitivity Throat Swab.
No specific preparation is necessary for this test.
Understanding your test results
The test results may vary depending on age, health history, medical condition, etc.
If your test results are negative, then it may indicate that there are no signs of growth of aerobic bacteria.
If your test results are positive, then it may indicate there is a chance for growth of aerobic bacteria, which means that the throat has been infected by an aerobic bacteria.
If abnormal test results were seen, consult your doctor immediately with your lab test reports.
| Gender | Age groups | Value |
| UNISEX | All age groups | The growth depends on the infecting organism. Clearing around the disc indicates organism is sensitive to antibiotic |