If a person regularly suffers from inflammation in the throat and a runny nose, then he will not be superfluous to pass smears from the throat. This analysis allows doctors to determine which pathogens infect the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx. By establishing the exact causative agent of the infectious disease, further treatment can be developed based on the results.
A swab of the pharynx and nose can be prescribed in two cases.
1. In order to accurately establish the microbial agent that provokes the development of tonsillitis (tonsillitis) and pharyngitis. Tonsils with tonsils and pharynx are often prescribed by the attending physician to identify beta-hemolytic streptococcus from group A in the collected material. It is this microorganism that most often causes tonsillitis in children and adults, which gives serious complications that worsen the functioning of joints, kidneys and heart.
2. In order to detect the presence in the throat and nose of the patient of the colonies of bacteria that can cause severe infectious diseases in humans. The most striking example is the prescribed swabs from the throat with boils that often develop on the surface of the body. The culprits of the formation of these boils are most often Staphylococcus aureus. The permanent place of their location is the mucous membrane of the throat and nose, from where they spread throughout the skin.
Pharyngeal Swab Technique
A swab from the throat is taken in the following way. The doctor asks the patient to open his mouth wide and tilt his head back a little. Then he fixes the position of the tongue. To do this, use a metal plate or wooden stick. It is slightly pressed on the tongue, which provides a better view of the throat. Then a sterile cotton swab is taken. They gently, trying to cause the least discomfort to the patient, spend on the mucous membrane of the tonsils and throat. These throat swabs are further analyzed. The procedure itself, of course, is painless, but still unpleasant, since touching the back of the throat, as a rule, causes an emetic reflex in the vast majority of people .
Having collected particles of mucus from the surface of the pharynx and tonsils, the doctor places the swab in a special preserving nutrient medium. It prevents microorganisms from dying and allows you to deliver them to the laboratory for analysis, with which their species will be established. This material can be directed to several types of research. Most often, the following tests are performed:
- Buck. sowing. This method consists in transferring particles of mucus taken to differential diagnostic or elective culture media. On them, bacteria begin to multiply rapidly and form specific colonies. Throat swabs taken from the patient can determine which types of microbes they belong to and which antibiotics respond. This is very important in cases where the course of antibiotic therapy has been ineffective.
- Fast antigenic tests. These are specially designed rapid tests that respond to strictly defined bacteria antigens.