Abstract
Carriage rates for the bacterial pathogens associated with otitis media (Streptococcus pneumoniae [SP], Hemophilus influenzae [HI], and Moraxella catarrhalis [MC]) are of interest. Culture on three selective agars was compared with culture
on two standard agars to determine the more accurate method for detection of these
species in the nasopharynx of healthy children. Weekly samples were obtained in winter
from 18 healthy children (ages 1 through 9 years) as part of a longitudinal study.
A 0.1-mL sample of 116 nasopharyngeal aspirate/washes was inoculated onto each of
five agars. Two were standard (sheep blood and chocolate), and three were selective
(blood with gentamicin for SP; chocolate with vancomycin, bacitracin, and clindamycin
for HI; blood with amphotericin B, vancomycin, trimethoprim, and acetazolamide for
MC). One technician read the standard plates and another the selective; both were
blinded to the results of the other. SP was found in 44% of samples with selective
agar versus 25% with standard agar; HI was found in 31% with selective versus 9% with
standard; MC was found in 56% with selective versus 37% with standard. Overall, 80%
of samples had one or more pathogens detected with selective agars as compared with
58% with standard agars (P =.0004). Selective agars were more accurate than standard agars for detecting otitis
pathogens in the nasopharynx, where they are a common part of normal flora in healthy
children. (J Lab Clin Med 2001;138:338-42)
Abbreviations:
CFU (colony-forming unit), HI (Hemophilus influenzae), MC (Moraxella catarrhalis), SP (Streptococcus pneumoniae)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
August 8,
2001
Received in revised form:
August 3,
2001
Received:
April 9,
2001
Footnotes
☆Supported by The Pendleton Pediatric Infectious Disease Laboratory at the University of Virginia Health System.
☆☆Reprint requests: J. Owen Hendley, MD, University of Virginia Health System, Department of Pediatrics, Box 800386, Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Charlottesville, VA 22908.
Identification
Copyright
© 2001 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
