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Sputum
 
 
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Sputum is matter that is expectorated from the respiratory tract, such as mucus
Mucus

In vertebrates, mucus is a slippery secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is a viscous colloid containing antiseptic enzymes and immunoglobulins that serves to protect Epithelium in the respiratory,...
 or phlegm
Phlegm

Phlegm is sticky fluid secreted by the mucous membranes of humans and other animals. Its definition is limited to the mucus produced by the respiratory system, excluding that from the nose passages, and particularly that which is expelled by coughing ....
, mixed with saliva
Saliva

Saliva is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is produced in and secreted from the salivary glands....
, which can then be spat from the mouth. It is usually associated with air passages in diseased lungs, bronchi, or upper respiratory tract. It can be found to contain blood if in a chronic cough possibly from severe cases of tuberculosis.

A sputum sample is the name given to the mucus
Mucus

In vertebrates, mucus is a slippery secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is a viscous colloid containing antiseptic enzymes and immunoglobulins that serves to protect Epithelium in the respiratory,...
 that is coughed up from the lower airways.






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Sputum is matter that is expectorated from the respiratory tract, such as mucus
Mucus

In vertebrates, mucus is a slippery secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is a viscous colloid containing antiseptic enzymes and immunoglobulins that serves to protect Epithelium in the respiratory,...
 or phlegm
Phlegm

Phlegm is sticky fluid secreted by the mucous membranes of humans and other animals. Its definition is limited to the mucus produced by the respiratory system, excluding that from the nose passages, and particularly that which is expelled by coughing ....
, mixed with saliva
Saliva

Saliva is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is produced in and secreted from the salivary glands....
, which can then be spat from the mouth. It is usually associated with air passages in diseased lungs, bronchi, or upper respiratory tract. It can be found to contain blood if in a chronic cough possibly from severe cases of tuberculosis.

A sputum sample is the name given to the mucus
Mucus

In vertebrates, mucus is a slippery secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is a viscous colloid containing antiseptic enzymes and immunoglobulins that serves to protect Epithelium in the respiratory,...
 that is coughed up from the lower airways. It is usually used for microbiological investigations of respiratory infections.

The best sputum samples contain very little saliva
Saliva

Saliva is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is produced in and secreted from the salivary glands....
, as this contaminates the sample with oral bacteria.This event is assessed by the clinical microbiologist by examining a Gram stain of the Sputum. More than 25 squamous epithelial cells at low enlargement indicates salivary contamination

When a sputum specimen is plated out
Agar plate

An agar plate is a sterile Petri dish that contains a growth medium used to Microbiological culture microorganisms or small plants like the moss Physcomitrella patens....
, it is best to get the portion of the sample that most looks like pus
Pus

Pus is a whitish-yellow, yellow or yellow-brown substance produced during inflammatory pyogenic bacteriuml infection. An accumulation of pus in an enclosed tissue space is known as an abscess....
 onto the swab. If there is any blood in the sputum, this should also be on the swab.

Microbiological sputum samples are usually used to look for infections by Moraxella catarrhalis
Moraxella catarrhalis

Moraxella catarrhalis is a Gram-negative, Aerobic_organism, Oxidase test diplococcus which may both colonize and cause respiratory tract-associated infection in humans....
, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogenic bacterial species in the genus Mycobacterium and the causative agent of most cases of tuberculosis....
, Streptococcus pneumoniae
Streptococcus pneumoniae

Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus, is a Gram-positive, Hemolysis diplococcus aerotolerant anaerobe and a member of the genus Streptococcus....
 and Haemophilus influenzae
Haemophilus influenzae

Haemophilus influenzae, formerly called Pfeiffer's bacillus or Bacillus influenzae, is a non-motile Gram-negative coccobacillus first described in 1892 by Richard Friedrich Johannes Pfeiffer during an influenza pandemic....
. Other pathogens can also be found.

Purulent Sputum is that containing, or consisting of, pus
Pus

Pus is a whitish-yellow, yellow or yellow-brown substance produced during inflammatory pyogenic bacteriuml infection. An accumulation of pus in an enclosed tissue space is known as an abscess....
.

Sputum can be:
  1. Bloody (often found in tuberculosis) (Haemoptysis)
  2. Rusty colored - usually caused by pneumococcal bacteria (in pneumonia
    Pneumonia

    Pneumonia is an Inflammation illness of the lung. Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolus inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid ....
    )
  3. Purulent - containing pus. The color gives hints about probable causes:
    1. a yellow-greenish color points to a bacterial infection .
    2. a white color often means a viral infection.
  4. Foamy white - may come from obstruction or even Edema
    Edema

    File:Oedema.jpgEdema or Oedema , formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin, or in one or more cavities of the body....


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