Specimen Requirements

Fresh stool specimen must arrive within 1 hour of collection or must be a SAF-preserved specimen received within 48 hours.

Do not send specimen if anti-diarrheal medications, oily laxatives and procedures with barium or bismuth has been given in the past 5 days.

1. Submit 2 mL of SAF preserved stool (or 2 mL of fresh stool in a screw-capped, sterile container if it can be delivered within 1 hour of the collection). (Do not contaminate stool specimen with urine or allow the stool to mix with water.) Only 1 specimen per day will be accepted unless it is a purged specimen.

Formed or semi-formed stool - Using the spork built into the lid, add stool to the vial until the liquid reaches the fill line.  Any blood or mucous should be included.

Liquid stool - Pour the stool into the vial until it reaches the fill line.

2. Tighten the cap completely, maintain sterility and label the specimen with the patient name, date of birth or other 2nd identifier (ie. medical record number), time and date of collection.  Forward specimen promptly.

Note: 

1. Fresh specimen should be refrigerated and must be received within 1 hour. Preserved specimen may be kept at ambient temperature until delivered to laboratory.

2. Indicate specimen source on specimen container and in computer.