SLCH Bacteriology Specimen Collection, Storage, and Transport

Specimen Type	Genital: female or male Lesion
Guidelines	1.	Cleanse lesion with sterile saline, and remove lesion’s surface with sterile scalpel blade.
	2.	Allow transudate to accumulate.
	3.	While pressing base of lesion, firmly sample exudate with sterile swab.
Container and/or minimum Vol.	Swab transport
Transport	£ 2 h, RT
Storage	£ 24 h, RT
Replica Limits	1/day
Comments	To rule out syphilis, touch glass slide to transudate, add coverslip, and transport directly to laboratory in humidified chamber (petri dish with moist gauze).