Comparison of two transport systems available in Japan (TERUMO kenkiporter II and BBL Port-A-Cul) for maintenance of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.
The kenkiporter II (KP II) transport system is commonly used in many hospitals in Japan for transporting bacterial specimens to microbiology laboratories. Recently, the BBL Port-A-Cul (PAC) fluid vial became available. However, no reports thus far have compared the effectiveness of these two transport systems. We chose 4 aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria as well as 8 anaerobic organisms, and prepared three strains of each bacterium in culture media for placement into PAC and KP II containers. We compared the effectiveness of each transport system for preserving each organism at 6, 24, and 48 h after inoculation at room temperature. Thirty-six strains out of 12 bacteria were used in this study. The PAC system yielded better recovery in quantity of organisms than the KP II system at 6, 24 and 48 h. More strains were significantly recovered with the PAC system than with the KP II at 24 h (36/36 vs. 23/36, P < 0.001) and 48 h (30/36 vs. 12/36, P < 0.001). The PAC system was better in the recovery of viable organisms counted at 24 and 48 h after inoculation compared with the KP II system. The PAC system may be recommended for the transfer of bacterial specimens in clinical settings.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan. Electronic address: daichi@kcho.jp.
Daichi
D
Fujimoto
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Hiroshi
H
Takegawa
Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Asako
A
Doi
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Kenji
K
Sakizono
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Yoko
Y
Kotani
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Kanji
K
Miki
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Takuya
T
Naito
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Marie
M
Niki
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Junko
J
Miyamoto
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Koji
K
Tamai
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Kazuma
K
Nagata
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Atsushi
A
Nakagawa
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Ryo
R
Tachikawa
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Kojiro
K
Otsuka
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Nobuyuki
N
Katakami
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Keisuke
K
Tomii
D001420:Bacteria, Aerobic / Q000502:physiology*; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000502:physiology*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D007564:Japan; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*
Aerobic bacteria; Anaerobic bacteria; Kenkiporter II; Port-A-Cul; Transportation system