All healthcare workers need to take the following precautions while undertaking the TB diagnostic specimen collection, transportation and receipt of samples as TB is an airborne infection:

The criteria for acceptance and rejection of TB specimens at TB Diagnostic Laboratories are listed below:

Acceptance Criteria:

• Sample received in triple layer with no leakage
• Sample is without any blood and food particles
• Sample is received within 48 hours expected timeline after collection in a cool chain
• Adequate label and information about the specimen
• Identical name on the specimen and in the test request
• Sample is in adequate quantity

Rejection Criteria:

There is a specific procedure prescribed under the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) during receipt of the specimen for NTEP Laboratory.

At the laboratory, all specimens need to be received in the registration area.

To minimize the risk of infection, the following procedures should be applied:

Technical specifications for TB diagnosis specimen carriers are as follows:

Thermocol Box:

• Thickness of box - 2.5 cm
• Outer dimensions: Length - 18.5 cm, breadth - 13 cm, height - 12 cm (without lid), height - 14 cm (with lid); Inner dimensions: Length - 14.5 cm, breadth - 8 cm, height - 12 cm (without lid), height - 13 cm (with inner part of lid).

Gel Pack:

Some logistics should be available in all National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) laboratories so that biological samples including sputum can be correctly transported to nearby Culture and Drug Susceptibility Testing (CDST) laboratories. The logistics required for packaging biological specimens are: