Urine Culture
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- Also Known As:
- Urine Culture and Sensitivity
- Urine C and S
- Formal Name:
- Culture
- Urine

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At a Glance
Why Get Tested?
To diagnose a urinary tract infection (UTI)
When To Get Tested?
When you experience symptoms of a UTI, such as frequent and painful urination, and/or when a urinalysis indicates you may have a UTI
Sample Required?
A few ounces of urine; the mid-stream clean catch urine sample is the most common type of sample collected. (The genital area is cleaned before collecting your urine.) Urine may also be collected using a catheter and, rarely, a needle is used to aspirate urine directly from the bladder. For infants, a collection bag may be attached to the genital area to catch any urine produced.
Test Preparation Needed?
Generally none, but depending on the type of culture, you may be given special instructions. For example, you may be asked not to urinate for at least one hour before the test and/or to drink a glass of water 15-20 minutes before sample collection. This will help to ensure that you can produce enough urine for the test. Antibiotics taken prior to the test may affect your results. Tell your health care practitioner if you have taken antibiotics recently.
What is being tested?
Urine is the fluid produced by the kidneys that carries water and wastes through the urinary tract and then is eliminated from the body. The urine culture is a test that detects and identifies bacteria and yeast in the urine, which may be causing a urinary tract infection (UTI).
The kidneys, a pair of bean-shaped organs located at the bottom of the ribcage in the right and left sides of the back, filter wastes out of the blood and produce urine, the yellow fluid that carries wastes out of the body. Urine travels through tubes called ureters from the kidneys to the bladder, where it is stored temporarily, and then through the urethra as it is voided. Urine contains low levels of microbes, such as bacteria or, yeast which move from the skin into the urinary tract and grow and multiply, causing a urinary tract infection.
Most UTIs are considered uncomplicated and are easily treated. However, if they are not addressed, the infection may spread from the bladder and ureters into the kidneys. A kidney infection is more dangerous and can lead to permanent kidney damage. In some cases, an untreated urinary tract infection may spread to the bloodstream (septicemia) and cause sepsis, which can be life-threatening.
Women and girls get urinary tract infections more often than men and boys. Even preteen girls may have frequent UTIs. For men and boys with a UTI confirmed by a urine culture, further tests may be done to rule out the presence of a kidney stone or structural abnormality that could cause the infection.
People with kidney disease or with other conditions that affect the kidneys, such as diabetes or kidney stones, and people with weakened immune systems may be more prone to frequent, repeated and/or complicated UTIs.
- For a urine culture, a small sample of urine is placed on one or more agar plates (a thin layer of a nutrient media) and incubated at body temperature. Any bacteria or yeast that are present in the urine sample grow over the next 24 to 48 hours.
- A laboratory professional studies the colonies on the agar plate, counting the total number and determining how many types have grown. The size, shape, and color of these colonies help to identify which bacteria are present, and the number of colonies indicates the quantity of bacteria originally present in the urine sample. The quantity can differentiate between normal levels of bacteria versus infection.
- Ideally, if a good clean catch sample was collected for the test, only bacteria causing a UTI are present. Typically, this will be a single type of bacteria that will be present in relatively large numbers.
- Sometimes, more than one type of bacteria will be present. This may be due to an infection that involves more than one pathogen; however, it is more likely due to skin, vaginal, or fecal contamination picked up during the urine collection.
- The laboratorian will take a colony from each type and perform other tests, such as a gram stain, to identify the type (species) of bacteria or other microbe (i.e., yeast). Susceptibility testing may be done to determine which antibiotics will likely cure the infection.
If there is no or little growth on the agar after 24 to 48 hours of incubation, the urine culture is considered negative and the culture is complete, suggesting an infection is not present.
How is the sample collected for testing?
Although there are several types of urine samples, the mid-stream clean catch is the type most commonly submitted for culture.
- It is important to first clean the genital area before collecting your urine because of the potential to contaminate the urine with bacteria and cells from the surrounding skin during collection (particularly in women).
- Start first by washing your hands.
- Women should then spread the labia of the vagina and clean from front to back using a wipe provided by your healthcare practitioner or the laboratory. It is recommended to repeat with a second towel or wipe.
- Men should wipe the tip of the penis.
- Start to urinate, let some urine fall into the toilet, and then collect one to two ounces of urine directly into the sterile container provided, then void the rest into the toilet. Do not allow the inside of the container to come into contact with skin and do not scoop the urine from the toilet (or any other container).
For catheterized specimens, a urine sample is taken by inserting a thin flexible tube or catheter through the urethra into the bladder. This is performed by a trained healthcare practitioner. The urine is collected in a sterile container at the other end of the tube. Rarely, a needle and syringe may be used to collect by aspirating urine directly from the bladder. For infants, a collection bag may be placed on the genital area to collect any urine produced.
Is any test preparation needed to ensure the quality of the sample?
Generally, no preparation is needed, but depending on the type of culture, you may be given special instructions. For example, you may be asked not to urinate for at least one hour before the test and/or to drink a glass of water 15-20 minutes before sample collection. This will help to ensure that you can produce enough urine for the test. Sometimes you may be instructed to collect the first urine you void in the morning. Antibiotics taken prior to the test may affect your results. Tell your health care practitioner if you have taken antibiotics recently.
Common Questions
Health Professionals – LOINC
LOINC Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC®) is the international standard for identifying health measurements, observations, and documents. It provides a common language to unambiguously identify things you can measure or observe that enables the exchange and aggregation of clinical results for care delivery, outcomes management, and research. Learn More.
Listed in the table below are the LOINC with links to the LOINC detail pages. Please note when you click on the hyperlinked code, you are leaving Testing.com and accessing Loinc.org.
LOINC | LOINC Display Name |
---|---|
17970-5 | Bacteria identified # 2 Cx Nom (U) |
17971-3 | Bacteria identified # 3 Cx Nom (U) |
17972-1 | Bacteria identified # 4 Cx Nom (U) |
17973-9 | Bacteria identified # 5 Cx Nom (U) |
17974-7 | Bacteria identified # 6 Cx Nom (U) |
44847-2 | Bacteria identified # 7 Cx Nom (U) |
44849-8 | Bacteria identified # 8 Cx Nom (U) |
13315-7 | Bacteria identified Cx Nom (24H U) |
630-4 | Bacteria identified Cx Nom (U) |
40435-0 | Fungus identified Cx Nom (U) |
34617-1 | Other Antibiotic (Unsp spec) [Mass/Vol] |
23658-8 | Other Antibiotic [Susc] |
45187-2 | Other Antibiotic Disk diffusion (KB) [Susc] |
55617-5 | Other Antibiotic Strip [Susc] |
21070-8 | Other Antibiotic MIC [Susc] |
59833-4 | Other Antibiotic MLC [Susc] |
View Sources
Sources Used in Current Review
2019 review performed by Nicole Amistani, BS CLS, MT (ASCP) and the Testing.com Editorial Review Board.
(July 30, 2018) Urine Culture Overview. Kaiser Permanente. Available online at wa.kaiserpermanente.org. Accessed May 2019.
Brusch, J. (Updated July 19, 2018). Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) and Cystitis (Bladder Infection) in Females. Medscape Reference [On-line information]. Available online at http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/233101-overview. Accessed May 2019.
(Jan 30, 2019) Mayo Clinic. Urinary Tract Infections, Causes. Available online at http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urinary-tract-infection/basics/causes/con-20037892. Accessed January 2015.
Henry’s Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. Chap. 28, Basic Examination of Urine. 22nd ed. McPherson R, Pincus M, eds. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier: 2011.
Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics. Clinical Syndromes, Urinary Tract Infections. Nader Rifai. 6th edition, Elsevier Health Sciences; 2017.
Sources Used in Previous Reviews
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Pagana, Kathleen D. & Pagana, Timothy J. (© 2007). Mosby’s Diagnostic and Laboratory Test Reference 8th Edition: Mosby, Inc., Saint Louis, MO. Pp 981-983.
Wu, A. (2006). Tietz Clinical Guide to Laboratory Tests, Fourth Edition. Saunders Elsevier, St. Louis, Missouri. Pp 1621-1622.
Thomas, Clayton L., Editor (1997). Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. F.A. Davis Company, Philadelphia, PA [18th Edition]. Pp 2037-2038.
Forbes, B. et. al. (© 2007). Bailey & Scott’s Diagnostic Microbiology, Twelfth Edition: Mosby Elsevier Press, St. Louis, Missouri. Pp 842-855.
(2007 August). Your Urinary System and How It Works. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse [On-line information]. Available online at http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/yoururinary/. Accessed March 2009.
(2008). Existing Recommendations for Bacteriuria Screening Upheld. Medscape from Reuters Health Information [On-line information]. Available online at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/576888. Accessed March 2009.
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(2005 November, Revised). Approach to the Renal Patient. Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals [On-line information]. Available online at http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec17/ch226/ch226b.html#sec17-ch226-ch226b-21. Accessed March 2009.
Barclay, L. and Murata, P. (2007 May 17). Perineal/Genital Cleaning During Urine Collection May Minimize Contamination. Medscape Medical News [On-line CME]. Available online at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/556640. Accessed March 2009.
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