Specimen Requirements

Submit only 1 of the following specimens:

Hair, Nail Cuttings, Other Keratinized Specimen, Tissue, or Skin Scrapings

1. Using a sterile instrument, collect and place specimen in a screw-capped, sterile container.
2. Label specimen with patient’s name, date of birth or hospital medical record number, specimen source, date and time of collection, and collector’s initials.
3. Send specimen refrigerated. Maintain sterility and forward promptly.

Mouth Swab or Scrapings

1. Label frosted end of slide in pencil with patient’s name.
2. Roll tip of swab firmly over lesion with a circular motion being careful to avoid other areas of mouth, or use a sterile scalpel blade to scrape adequate material from lesion.
3. Immediately after collection, spread a thin layer of cells on a clean, glass, microscopic slide by rolling swab across or placing scrapings on non-frosted end of glass slide. (Frosted end of slide should face up.)
4. Allow slide to air dry and transport in a sterile slide container.
5. Label slide container with patient’s name, date of birth or hospital medical record number, specimen source, date and time of collection, and collector’s initials.