When Microbiologists Encounter a Sputum Specimen, They Know That the Upper

Multiple Choice

When microbiologists encounter a sputum specimen, they know that the upper respiratory tract contains many indigenous organisms and to identify every organism in the culture would be a time-consuming, cost-prohibitive, and insurmountable task.So microbiologists must:

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.