Postal transport of sputa from cystic fibrosis patients does not decrease the microbiological yield.

Ambulatory cystic fibrosis patients often submit sputum specimens by post. This study addressed the question if and how postal transport affects the microbiological results of sputum cultures from these patients. Thirty-two fresh sputa and 32 next-day sputa posted from home were cultured qualitatively and quantitatively. The numbers of isolates of potentially pathogenic species and the mean numbers of colony-forming units of these isolates grown from parallel specimens were statistically not different. It is concluded that-under the conditions of this study-postal transport of sputa from cystic fibrosis patients does not decrease the microbiological yield.