An Upper Respiratory Specimen Contains Many Indigenous Organisms Which May

Multiple Choice

An upper respiratory specimen contains many indigenous organisms which may be time consuming, cost prohibitive, and insurmountable. What should the microbiologist do?

A) Work quickly with commercially available kits to identify all organisms present in a sputum specimen for the best quality patient care available.
B) Work up only the gram-negative rods present in the culture.
C) Differentiate the potential pathogens from the "usual" inhabitants of the upper respiratory tract and direct the diagnostic workup only to potential pathogens.
D) Be able to ascertain whether the results generated by a commercial or automated system correlate with the suspected organism.