Giving and taking the samples


Blood sample
• Blood sample should be given in the morning before 12.00 PM, preferably 8.00–10.00.
• Before giving the sample, it is necessary to be awake for at least one hour.
• The day before giving the blood sample, the patient is allowed to eat and drink as usual, but consuming alcohol, coffee and high fat foods should be limited.
• Before giving the blood test, the patient must not eat or drink 10–14 hours. If necessary, one glass of pure unflavoured water is allowed during that time.
• Before giving the blood test, any physical or emotional effort, consuming of alcohol, smoking, and, if possible, using drugs, should be avoided.
• Before the blood sampling procedure, the patient should sit quietly for 15 minutes, in order to balance the circulatory system.
• During the procedure it is not allowed to eat, drink or chew gum (the mouth must be empty).


Urine sample
1. Urine (midstream) collection for screening and microbiological analysis
• For the urine test, the first midstream urine in the morning is suitable.
• Before taking the urine sample, the patient must not eat or drink for 10–14 hours. If necessary, one glass of pure unflavoured water is allowed during that time.
• Befor the urine test, any physical or emotional effort, consuming of alcohol, and, if possible, using drugs, should be avoided.
• The period before the last urination should be at least 4–6 hours.
• The urine should be collected directly to the test container. Transfusing the urine from one container to another is not allowed. The test container must be dry, clean and hermetically sealable. The test containers are available in the laboratory.
• Before urination, the external genitalia should be washed with warm running water. No cleaning products (soap etc) should be used.
• If women have vaginal discharge or menstrual blood, it is necessary to use a menstruation tampon.
• During urination, it is necessary to observe that the external urethral orifice is open (women: the labia opened with fingers; men: foreskin pulled back).
• For urine collection, first, let some milliliters of urine fall into the toilet bowl, then, without stopping the urination, collect the urine into the test container (about 50 ml) and finish the urination into the bowl.
• For babies and infants, the urine collection bag can be used. Before the urine collection, the external genitalia must be washed. Then attach the bag and observe the collection of the urine during 10–15 minutes. The urine must be transferred from the collection bag to the test container with a sterile pipette.
• After collecting the urine, the test container must be sealed with the cap and marked.

2. The urine (the first stream) collection for molecular diagnostics analyses (in case of venereal diseases)
• The urine is usable for molecular diagnostics analyses only for men.
• For the analysis, the first 3–5 ml from the first urine in the morning should be collected.
Before collectiong the sample, the external genitalia should not be washed.
• The test container must be sealed with the cap.
• The test container must be marked with the patient’s code or name according to the accompanying document.

3. The collection of urine (twenty-four hour period)
• The twenty-four hour urine is collected to a clean sealable collection container with measuring marks (the capacity of 2–3 litres).
• The patient does not need a preparation for the analysis.
• In the morning of the first day of urine collection, the bladder should be emptied into the toilet bowl, and the time of urination (the start time of the urine collection) must be fixed on the accompanying document.
• For the determination of catecholamines in the urine, after the first urine portion, the urine in the collection container is added 10 ml of HCl as a preservative. Important! HCl is highly corrosive!
• All the following urine portions should be collected into the collection container. Not one portion of urine can be lost.
• The collection container should be kept in cool and dark place between urinations.
• The last urine portion should be taken in the next morning, at the same time as the start time of the urine collection; the end time of the collection should be fixed on the accompanying document.
• The 24 hour urine quantity should be measured with the help or the measuring marks, and marked to the accompanying document.
• The whole urine in the collection container can be sent to the lab, or about 50 ml of it (before separating 50 ml, the collected urine should be mixed carefully).
• The collection container should be marked.

Faeces and rectal scrape
1. Faeces specimen collection for the analysis of occult blood, helminth eggs and Giardia lamblia
• For the analysis, 1–2 grams of stool should be taken into a special faeces collection container with a spoon. The test containers are available in the laboratory.
• The specimen should be taken from different parts of faeces.
• The faeces must not be contaminated with urine or the toilet water.
• The test container should be marked.
• For the analysis, the rectal scrape or the specimen sent in the swab transport medium are not suitable.
• In case of a negative result, it is suggested to perform a repeating analysis: on three different days for the helminth eggs and occult blood, and during ten days for Giardia lamblia.

2. The collection of a rectal scrape for the analysis of Enterobius vermicularis
• For the analysis, the specimen should be taken in the morning from perianal folds with a swab moistened in saline or glycerol.
• The swab should be placed into a sterile test tube with no additives.
• The test tube should be marked.
• For the analysis, the faeces or the specimen sent in the swab transport medium are not suitable.

3. The collection of stool for microbiological culture
• During the active period of illness, 1–2 grams of stool should be taken to a special test collector with a spoon, preferring the mucous and bloody parts.
• The specimen can also be taken from the stool with a sterile swab to a special transport medium (the swab with a red cap + Cary-Blair transport medium).
• The stool must not be contaminated with urine or the toilet water.
• For the determination of the carrying of Salmonella and Shigell, it is suggested that the sample be taken with sterile swab to a special transport medium via rectal scrape. Prior to the collection of the rectal scrape, the swab should be moistened in the transport medium, then the swab should be carried 3–5 cm into the anus with rotating movements and rubbed against the mucous membrane. The specimen collected should be placed into the transport medium.
• For the Clostridium difficile toxin, the faeces should be collected to a special test container with a spoon.
• The test container should be marked.

4. The collection of faeces for rotavirus, adenovirus and astrovirus analysis
• For the analysis, 1–2 grams of faeces should be taken into a special test container with a spoon.
• The stool must not be contaminated with urine or the toilet.
• The test container should be marked.
• For the analysis, the specimen sent in the swab transport medium is not suitable.