AFB Stain (Urine) Test

The AFB stain test is often ordered to determine if you are currently infected with Tuberculosis or Nocardia. If you find that you have been suffering from the following symptoms, then you need to consult your physician right away and he would, after a physical examination, order a AFB stain (Urine) test. Some of the symptoms that you need to be on the lookout for happen to be –

• Coughing constantly for a period of more than two weeks Coughing up blood
• Fatigue
• Unexplained weight loss
• Loss of appetite
• Fever and chills
• The AFB test is used by doctors to determine the presence of mycobacterial infections such as Tuberculosis and Nocardia.

Your physician, after a brief physical examination and a review of your medical history would recommend that you take the AFB stain (urine) test as well as additional tests to rule out mycobacterial infections. Your physician would provide you with required instructions and provide you with a sample collection cup. You would be required to deposit a sample first thing in the morning, when the said sample would usually contain high levels of bacteria.

Your physician would recommend that you deposit additional samples, such as blood, phlegm and even stool samples to confirm the rest of the AFB stain (urine) test, and then recommend a course of treatment for the same. It is vital that you are completely upfront with your doctor regarding your current medical history and any medications that you may be consuming now as it can impact the results of your AFB test. This test is vital to determining the presence of TB and other associated illnesses and enables doctors to correctly diagnose the condition on time and provide an effective treatment for the same.

You would be required to clean your genital area, and even use a sterilized towel for the purpose. And on urinating, you would be required to collect at least two ounces of urine for the test and ensure that you deposit the same at the clinic within an hour. The sample would then be processed by lab technicians who would use the same to grow a culture. After two days, the culture grown will be first stained with special dye, heated and then washed with acid. The presence of mycobacteria is usually identified when some of the bacteria retain the dye which usually confirms a diagnosis of Tuberculosis or Nocardia depending on full or partial retention of the dye.