What is the purpose of the digestion-decontamination processing of specimens submitted for mycobacterial culture?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The purpose of the digestion-decontamination processing is to allow chemical decontaminants to kill nonmycobacterial organisms that may be present in the specimen, thus reducing the risk of false positive cultures. It does not aim to release all bacteria in the sample or liquefy the outer cell wall of the mycobacteria. While it may make the specimen easier to plate, this is not the primary purpose of the processing.

What Is the Purpose of the Digestion-Decontamination Processing of Specimens