title: Comparison of two BACTEC anaerobic culture media for recovery of anaerobic bacteria.
abstract: A selection of 22 anaerobic isolates, originally recovered from sterile body sites or wounds, was cultured in parallel in BACTEC anaerobic NR7A and lytic 37A bottles supplemented with volunteer human blood. The overall detection rate was 95% for the 37A medium and 75% for the NR7A medium (P = 0.003). The growth indices were consistently higher in the 37A bottles, and a positive result occurred sooner in the 37A medium in 11 of the 32 bottles positive in both media. In an analysis of patient specimens, the NR7A bottle had a 14% false-positive rate compared with 3% for the 37A bottle. The increase in recovery, coupled with the decrease in false-positive readings, make the lytic 37A bottle more efficacious than the NR7A bottle as an anaerobic culture medium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California Medical Center, San Francisco 94143-0100.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cregan
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Fiss
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: York
mesh_terms: D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000254:growth & development*; D001769:Blood; D003470:Culture Media; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media