Sputum

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Name of Symptom/Sign:
Abnormal sputum
Classifications and external resources

ICD-10	R09.3
ICD-9	786.4

Sputum is matter that is coughed up from the respiratory tract, such as mucus or phlegm, mixed with saliva and then expectorated from the mouth. It can also contain pus, blood, fibrin, bacterial products or other foreign matter.

A sputum sample is the name given to the mucus that is coughed up from the lower airways. It is usually used for microbiological investigations of respiratory infections.

The best sputum samples contain very little saliva, as this contaminates the sample with oral bacteria.

When a sputum specimen is plated out, it is best to get the portion of the sample that most looks like pus onto the swab. If there is any blood in the sputum, this should also be on the swab.

Microbiological sputum samples are usually used to look for infections by Moraxella catarrhalis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. Other pathogens can also be found.

In Gmail's 2007 April Fool's joke, they cited sputum as a key ingredient in the paper of their new Gmail Paper service; "What about the environment? Not a problem. Gmail Paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment. For every Gmail Paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier."

See also

• phlegmde:Sputum

ja:痰 nl:Sputum pl:Plwocina zh:痰

Wikipedia information about Sputum This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sputum". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.