Clinical presentation or sample type | Limits of significant concentration in laboratories (colony forming units, CFU/ml) |
---|---|
Asymptomatic bacteriuria (if examination is warranted in the first place) Suspected UTI (no knowledge of the quality of the midstream sample) | 105 |
Catheter sample from a female patient | 104 |
Catheter sample from a male patient | 103 |
Symptomatic patient with suspected urinary tract infection and a good quality midstream sample* | 103 |
Bladder puncture sample, quantitative culture | 102 |
Bladder puncture sample, enrichment culture | No limit |
* 103 -104 CFU/ml with 1-2 different species may be a significant growth if the patient is dysuric and the sample collection succeeded properly (primary pathgens E. coli and Staphylococcus saprophyticus). |