title: The use of antibiotics to control bacterial overgrowth of cell cultures used for diagnostic virology.
abstract: Although penicillin and streptomycin are added routinely to cell culture media, bacterial overgrowth has caused a significant problem. A total of 34.4% cell cultures inoculated with specimens, from immunocompromised patients for the isolation of viruses, was discontinued because of bacterial overgrowth. When ceftazidime and vancomycin were added to inoculated cell cultures the overall proportion of contaminated cultures fell from 16.3 to 0.6% (P less than 0.001). The proportion of cell cultures contaminated after inoculation with specimens from immunocompromised patients fell from 34.4 to 0.4% (P less than 0.001). At the same time the isolation rate of herpes viruses from specimens submitted from immunocompromised patients increased from 5.2 to 16.4% (P less than 0.001).
authors.affiliation: Clinical Microbiology and Public Health Laboratory, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, U.K.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Brenwald
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D002460:Cell Line; D006801:Humans; D007121:Immunocompetence; D014709:Vero Cells; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*; D014780:Viruses / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents