Bacteria Culture Test

A bacteria culture test can determine if you have a bacterial infection and, if so, which type of bacteria is causing it. To do a bacterial culture test, you will need to give a sample of your blood, urine, skin, or other tissue. The type of sample depends on where the infection is located.

Bacteria are one-celled organisms. There are many different kinds of bacteria. They live just about everywhere in your body and on your skin.

Some types of bacteria are harmless or even helpful, while other bacteria can cause infections and disease. Knowing what type of bacteria is causing your infection helps determine the best treatment. Your health care provider will need to examine many bacteria cells to find out the type of bacteria.

Your sample will be sent to a lab where the bacteria cells will be put in a dish with a special substance that allows bacteria to grow. It normally takes one to two days to grow enough bacteria for the test. So your test results are often ready within a few days.

But some types of bacteria grow slowly, so sometimes your results may take several days or longer.

Why this test is done

Bacteria culture tests require a large number of cells to accurately identify what type of bacteria may be causing an infection. Most test samples don't include enough cells for that. So, your sample is sent to a lab and put in a dish with a special substance that allows bacteria cells to grow until there are enough to test.

Most disease-causing bacteria will be ready for testing within one to two days, but some types of bacteria take five days or longer to grow enough cells.

How to prepare

There are many different types of bacteria culture tests. Ask your provider if you need to do anything to prepare for your test.