A bacterial sputum culture is used to detect and diagnose bacterial lower respiratory tract infections such as bacterial pneumonia or bronchitis. It is typically performed with a Gram stain to identify the bacteria causing a person's infection
Your sputum sample will be sent to a laboratory within one to hours of production. A pathologist will run tests to determine if the growth is a bacterium, virus or fungus. There are some bacteria in the lungs that grow naturally, so it is important to determine what is making you sick and what bacteria are healthy. Your pathologist will send a report to your doctor as soon as possible. Typically, your doctor will have test results back within a few days. Rapid TB tests can be ready in as little as 24 hours, but results for other lung diseases can take as long as eight weeks.
