Guest chappedlips Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 My doctor claimed to do a throat culture but it only took a few minutes to do so I was confused. How long does it take to receive results from a throat culture? I'm pretty sure he only did a rapid strep test... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Perhaps he was using the term "throat culture" to mean "I am now going to stick this thing down your throat and make you gag" as that is what most people call that procedure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 The rapid comes back in about 5-10 minutes. The same culture is also used for the longer test. SO they only take 1 sample but it can be used for 2 tests if needed. The longer tests usually takes a few days to come back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 My doc does both, two swabs done at the same time, one for rapid and if that comes back negative the other gets sent in for culture. I don't think they bother to grow the culture if the rapid test comes back positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Basically, in a rapid test they look to see if it's obviously there. A standard culture means putting your sample in a Petri dish with just the right medium for strep to grow in at just the right temp for a couple of days, so the bacteria multiply rapidly, making finding the nasty strep ones easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 A rapid strep test is an antibody test. They don't always come back positive, because if you do it too early, your body hasn't had time to make antibodies against the strep bacteria yet. The throat culture is to see if the actual strep bacteria grows. That is checked every 24 hours for up to three days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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