Fungus Culture

Physicians use fungal culture to check for the presence of fungal infections that cause human diseases. Fungal culture can help physicians identify a course of treatment and monitor a patient's progress in fighting off the infection.

Methods

• Methods of fungal culture include collection of cerebrospinal fluid to check for fungal growth in the central nervous system or scraping underneath the nails to check for fungal nail infections. According to the University of North Carolina Healthcare System, other methods of fungal culture tests include testing samples of hair, tissue or stool.

Identification

• Fungal culture can rule out bacterial and viral infections that cause illness. The fungal culture test can identify the type of fungus causing the infection as well as any antifungal resistance the fungus has.

Time Frame

• According to P4 Healthcare, fungal cultures require three to seven days or longer to yield results. Susceptibility results for testing potential treatment might take several weeks.

Effects

• Collection of cerebrospinal fluid for fungal culture might cause side effects such as severe headache that lasts several days, nerve injury, internal bleeding, infection and damage to the vertebrae. Scraping around or underneath the nails to collect specimens for fungal culture might cause discomfort, redness or pain around the collection site.