Hi there! As far as numbers go...when you see 1+, 2+ etc up to 4+ it is telling you how much bacteria is there, 4+ being the highest. The a lower value (ie 1+) correlates with a lesser amount of bacteria visualized than 4+ which would be significantly greater You also mentioned polys...they are also called white blood cells, sometimes on a culture you will see WBC instead of polys written. Epithelial cells are cells that slough off your respiratory tract. WBC's are significant for infection. They too use the number system from 0 to 4+, it also depends on how many cells the micros see under a microscope in a set field.
0=none seen
1+= 1 to 5 cells seen
2+= 5 to 10 cells
3+= 11 to 25
4+= >25 cells
Here's an example of an old result of mine.
Analysis for Cystic Fibrosis sputum (which means they use different types of plates and conditions to grow organisms specific to CF that could be missed with the usual culture techniques)
Examination (under the microscope before culturing)
3+ WBC
<10 squamous epithelial cells
2+ gram negative bacilli (bacilli, cocci refer to the shape, bacilli are rod shaped, cocci are round)
2+ gram positive cocci
Final results (culture):
3+ Burkholderia cepacia (3+ means that there was growth into the second quad of a petri dish with >30 colonies..)
2+ Staphyloccus aureus (2+ means the micro saw 11-30 colonies on the petri dish)
1+ yeast (1+ micro saw 1-10)
On my samples there is always sensitivities which tell you what the bacteria are sensitive to antibiotic wise. It helps the docs choose the correct antibiotics to treat me during an active infection.
Other things you might see on your cultures:
Normal flora- means organisms that are typically found in the environment tested
hyphae- seen in fungal
acid fast bacilli- result seen with the Mycobacterium species (examples are M. avium complex and TB)
I am sure there are others, but I can't think of them at this moment.
I hope I've helped, Hugs Jenn <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
