Table VII-4.

Laboratory Diagnosis of Proctitis

Etiologic Agents	Diagnostic Procedures	Optimum Specimens	Transport Issues; Optimal Transport Time
Neisseria gonorrhoeae	Routine aerobic culture employing media for the recovery of N. gonorrhoeae	Rectal swab	Swab in Amies or Stuart's transport medium, RT, 8 h
Neisseria gonorrhoeae	NAATa	Rectal swab	Transport is manufacturer dependent
Chlamydia trachomatis
Chlamydia trachomatis	Direct immuno-fluorescent stain	Rectal swab	Transport is manufacturer dependent
Herpes simplex virus	Viral culture	Rectal swab	Viral transport medium, RT, 2 h, wet ice if >2 h
Treponema pallidium	RPR or VDRL with confirmatory T. pallidum specific test or syphilis IgG	Serum	Clot tube, RT, 2 h

Abbreviations: NAAT, nucleic acid amplification test; RT, room temperature.

^a This is not an FDA-approved specimen source. Availability of testing on this sample type is laboratory specific based on individual laboratory validation. Provider needs to check with the laboratory for optimal specimen and turn around time.