1. Obtain the throat swab before nasopharyngeal culture to avoid contamination.
2. Submit the swab specimen from the affected area. Take care to prevent contamination from the mouth.
3. Place the specimen in a culture collection and transport tube. 
4. Label the tube with the patient's full name, date of birth, identification number, date and time of collection, initials of the person collecting the specimen, and the specimen source.
5. Maintain sterility and forward promptly.
6. The specimen source is required on the request form for processing.

87081 - Culture Throat (EAP 30060920)
87147 x 1-4 Identification; agglutination grouping (if appropriate)