A member asked:

What does haemophilus influenzae on a nasal swab mean? does it mean bacterial infection?

5 doctors weighed in across 2 answers
Dr. Cornelius Oleary answered

Specializes in Urgent Care

Nasal Swab: The three most common bacterial pathogens causing upper respiratory infection in adults are Moraxella catarrhalis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae. A nasal swab is performed to culture and see what pathogen is causing problems. Haemophilus is a normal colonizer, but when isolated from sputum during infection it can indicate colonization has morphed to pathogenicity.

Answered 5/29/2016

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Depends: It is a common upper airway germ. When found, you must put everything in context of why you looked. If I randomly tested hundreds of nasal swabs I would expect to find it on many asymptomatic people.If I sucked it out of a draining sinus infection it might be the germ that overgrew and caused the infection.

Answered 5/7/2020

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