When reporting a direct smear from a primary specimen, it is important to note the presence and quantity of white blood cells even in the absence of bacteria for all of the following reasons ex-cept:

a. the pathogen may not be present in suffi-cient quantities.
b. the presence of white blood cells indicates a purulent process.
c. the pathogen may not be present in the sample collected.
d. it is not important to report white blood cells unless bacteria are present.


D
White blood cells are indicative of an infective process with or without the presence of visible bacteria in a direct smear and should be reported. Failure to see organisms in the direct smear may result from the sample containing low numbers of pathogens, probability and simply no or-ganisms present in the sample placed on the smear, or the organisms are difficult to visualize due to size and Gram staining characteristics.

Biology & Microbiology

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