Specimen Collection and Handling

1. Have patient defecate into a clean container taking care not to contaminate specimen with urine or water.

Note: Transfer of specimen into preservative should occur as soon as possible (within 30 minutes)

2. Examine the specimen for blood, mucus, or adult worms, and preferentially sample these sites.

3. If blood or mucus is not present, sample a representative area of the specimen.

4. If adult worms are present, place in separate formalin vial and note their presence on the request form.

5. Place enough stool in both containers to fill to lines on labels.

6. DO NOT fill above the line indicated on the containers.

7. Agitate the specimen with the spoon along side of container(s), tighten cap and shake firmly to insure that that the specimen is adequately mixed.

8. Send at ambient temperature (68 – 86° F or 20 – 32° C) or refrigerated.

9. If 3 stool specimens are requested, they should all be collected within 7 days and must be collected on separate days. Certain helminth infections may require more than 3 unique specimens for optimal detection.

10. Patients should avoid use of anti-diarrheal medication (i.e., Pepto Bismol®), antacids, or laxatives within 10 days of collection.

11. The presence of barium will interfere with this test, specimen should be collected before barium is given, or 2 – 3 weeks after.

12. After the administration of antibiotics, a waiting period of two to three weeks should be observed before collecting a specimen.