Urine Culture Test Price in Pakistan: PKR 1,890 at Marham Lab
Also called
Urine cultureUrine C/SUrine culture and sensitivityUTI testUrine for Bacterial C/S
In short
A urine culture costs PKR 1,890 at Marham Lab, down from PKR 2,700. It grows the bacteria in your urine sample so the laboratory can identify them and show which antibiotics will work. Because bacteria need time to grow, NIDDK notes results typically take a few days rather than the same day. It is a different test from a urine C/E, which costs PKR 385 and checks the sample rather than culturing it.
Prices are as listed on Marham, checked on 30 October 2026.
How booking works
1. Tap Book
Urine Culture (C/S) is added to your booking for you.
2. Pick a time
Give your address in Lahore and choose a collection day and time.
3. Sample at home
A phlebotomist comes to your address and takes the sample.
4. Get your report
Your report is ready in the time shown above, and you can see it in your Marham account.
What is the Urine Culture (C/S) test?
A urine culture takes a sample of your urine and encourages any bacteria in it to grow, so the laboratory can identify what is there. NIDDK explains that a urine culture identifies common types of bacteria in urine and helps show whether antibiotics are a treatment option. At Marham Lab a urine culture costs PKR 1,890.
Urine Culture, Urine C/S and Urine Sensitivity: The Same Test
C/S stands for culture and sensitivity. The culture part grows the bacteria and names them. The sensitivity part tests those bacteria against different antibiotics to see which ones actually kill them. On Pakistani lab forms you will see urine C/S, urine for bacterial C/S, or simply urine culture. They mean the same test.
How It Differs From a Urine C/E
This is the distinction worth understanding before you book, because the two tests are often confused and they cost very different amounts.
Urine C/E
Urine Culture (C/S)
What it does
Examines the sample for signs of a problem, including blood and white blood cells
Grows the bacteria present, names them, and tests which antibiotics work
What it answers
Is there something wrong in the urine
Exactly which bacteria, and which antibiotic will treat it
Time to report
Same day
2 to 3 days, because bacteria need time to grow
Price at Marham Lab
PKR 385
PKR 1,890
NIDDK describes urinalysis as checking the sample for blood and white blood cells, noting that the body produces white blood cells when it is fighting a bacterial infection. So a urine C/E can tell your doctor an infection is likely. Only the culture identifies the organism and the right antibiotic for it.
Doctors frequently order both together. The [urine C/E](/labs/tests/urine-test-price) comes back the same day and guides immediate treatment, and the culture confirms days later whether that treatment was the right choice.
Reading Your Result
A urine culture result is descriptive rather than a number on a scale.
Result
What it means
What usually happens next
No growth
No significant bacteria grew from your sample
Your doctor looks for another explanation for your symptoms
Growth of a named organism
A specific bacterium was identified as the likely cause
The sensitivity panel guides which antibiotic to prescribe
Sensitivity panel
Lists antibiotics and shows which the bacteria respond to and which they resist
Your doctor chooses or changes your antibiotic accordingly
Mixed growth
More than one organism grew, which can suggest the sample picked up contamination
A repeat sample may be requested
The sensitivity panel is the genuinely valuable part and the reason this test costs more than a simple examination. Antibiotic resistance means the obvious first choice does not always work, and this panel shows which drug will.
Who Should Get Tested and When
NIDDK lists the symptoms of a bladder infection as a burning feeling when you urinate, frequent or intense urges to urinate even when there is little urine to pass, pain or discomfort in the lower abdomen, and urine that is cloudy, bloody or strong smelling.
A culture is particularly worth doing if you have had repeated infections, if a previous course of antibiotics did not clear your symptoms, or if you are pregnant and your doctor has asked for it.
There is a separate set of symptoms that means seeing a doctor now rather than booking a test and waiting. NIDDK warns that bladder infections can spread to one or both kidneys, and that quick treatment matters if you have fever and chills, nausea or vomiting, or pain in your back, side or groin. Kidney infections can cause severe pain and serious problems if not treated early.
How to Prepare
No fasting is needed and no special preparation is required.
The one thing that matters is a clean sample. Follow the instructions supplied with the container carefully, because a contaminated sample can grow organisms from the skin rather than from your urinary tract, which produces a mixed growth result and usually means starting again.
Tell your doctor if you have already started antibiotics. Taking them before the sample is collected can suppress the bacteria enough to produce a no growth result while the infection is still present.
What Happens During the Test
You collect a urine sample into the sterile container provided. In Lahore this can be arranged at home rather than travelling to a collection point.
The laboratory then places part of the sample on a growth medium and waits. Anything present multiplies over the following days until there is enough to identify and test. That waiting period is why a culture cannot be a same day test, and it is worth setting that expectation before you book.
Conditions It Can Help Detect
The main use is confirming a urinary tract infection and identifying the organism behind it. NIDDK notes bladder infections are most often caused by bacteria, and rarely by fungi.
For repeated infections, the investigation usually goes further than a culture. NIDDK mentions urinary tract imaging to look for a cause such as a kidney stone, and cystoscopy to look inside the urethra and bladder. Blood tests may also be used to check for a more serious infection reaching the kidneys and to see how well the kidneys are working.
Final Thoughts
A urine culture is the test that turns a suspected infection into a treatable one, because it names the organism and shows which antibiotic will work against it. That is worth the extra days and the extra cost when a first course has failed or infections keep returning. If you simply want to know whether something is wrong, the cheaper same day urine C/E answers that. If you need to know what to treat and with what, this is the test. And if you have fever, chills or back pain alongside, see a doctor rather than waiting for a report.
Common questions
A urine C/E examines the sample, checking for things like blood and white blood cells, which NIDDK notes rise when the body is fighting a bacterial infection. It suggests an infection is present and comes back the same day at PKR 385. A urine culture goes further: it grows the bacteria, identifies which organism it is, and tests which antibiotics will kill it. That takes 2 to 3 days and costs PKR 1,890. Doctors often order both.
Two to three days in most cases. NIDDK states you will typically get urine culture results in a few days. This is not a processing delay, it is the test itself: bacteria have to be given time to multiply before they can be identified and tested against antibiotics. If you need an answer today, the urine C/E is the same day option.
If you have fever and chills, nausea or vomiting, or pain in your back, side or groin. NIDDK warns that bladder infections can spread to one or both kidneys and that quick treatment is important with these symptoms, because kidney infections can cause severe pain and serious health problems if not treated early. Those signs need a doctor now, not a report in three days.
Your doctor may look beyond the culture. NIDDK notes that for repeat bladder infections, urinary tract imaging can help identify a cause such as a kidney stone, and cystoscopy can be used to look inside the urethra and bladder. Blood tests may also be used to check whether the infection has reached the kidneys and how well the kidneys are working.
اردو میں
یورین کلچر یا یورین سی ایس ٹیسٹ میں پیشاب کے نمونے میں موجود جراثیم کو اگایا جاتا ہے تاکہ معلوم ہو سکے کہ انفیکشن کس جراثیم سے ہوا ہے۔ اس کے ساتھ یہ بھی پتہ چلتا ہے کہ کون سی اینٹی بائیوٹک اس جراثیم پر اثر کرے گی۔ یہی اس ٹیسٹ کی اصل اہمیت ہے۔
یورین سی ای اور یورین سی ایس دو الگ ٹیسٹ ہیں۔ سی ای میں نمونے کا معائنہ کیا جاتا ہے اور رپورٹ اسی دن مل جاتی ہے، قیمت تین سو پچاسی روپے ہے۔ سی ایس میں جراثیم کو اگایا جاتا ہے، اس میں دو سے تین دن لگتے ہیں اور قیمت اٹھارہ سو نوے روپے ہے۔
پیشاب میں جلن، بار بار پیشاب آنا، پیٹ کے نچلے حصے میں درد، اور پیشاب کا گدلا یا بدبودار ہونا، یہ سب مثانے کے انفیکشن کی علامات ہیں۔
ایک ضروری بات۔ اگر بخار، سردی لگنا، الٹی یا کمر اور پہلو میں درد ہو تو ٹیسٹ کا انتظار نہ کریں، فوراً ڈاکٹر سے رجوع کریں۔ یہ گردے تک انفیکشن پھیلنے کی علامت ہو سکتی ہے۔ نیز اگر آپ نے پہلے سے اینٹی بائیوٹک شروع کر رکھی ہے تو ڈاکٹر کو ضرور بتائیں، کیونکہ اس سے رپورٹ غلط آ سکتی ہے۔
