Diagnosis:

When a doctor or nurse obtains a throat or sputum culture from a Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patient, it is handled differently in the laboratory to enable detection of B. cepacia. Your physician has results of these special cultures. It is helpful to check with your physician on the status of your latest culture results.

Previously, the CF Foundation worked closely with the CDC to establish the best method of detecting B. cepacia in the laboratory. All CF Foundation-accredited Care Centers have now received the latest laboratory recommendations on how to detect B. cepacia. These ongoing efforts to improve the effectiveness of the laboratories in detecting B. cepacia is but one example of why it is important to be seen at an CF Foundation-accredited Care Center.