Abstract
An improved decontamination method has been demonstrated to reduce overgrowth of mycobacterial media by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and allow the successful recovery of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Twenty microbiology laboratories participating in a multicenter investigation designed to determine the significance of NTM in CF patients were required to demonstrate proficiency in the incorporation of this improved method; this was accomplished by successful decontamination and culture workup of a panel of simulated sputum samples seeded with P. aeruginosa and various NTM. All laboratories successfully recovered NTM from samples with acid-fast bacillus (AFB) smear scores of 3+/4+ (i.e., 2 to 18 or > 18 organisms/field). Low-inoculum samples (1+/2+ AFB smears [2 to 18 organisms in 100 or 10 fields]) were problematic in that processed specimens were often smear and/or culture negative.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (121.9 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Dunlap N. E., Harris R. H., Benjamin W. H., Jr, Harden J. W., Hafner D. Laboratory contamination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1995 Nov;152(5 Pt 1):1702–1704. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.152.5.7582316. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gilligan P. H. Microbiology of airway disease in patients with cystic fibrosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1991 Jan;4(1):35–51. doi: 10.1128/cmr.4.1.35. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Govan J. R., Nelson J. W. Microbiology of cystic fibrosis lung infections: themes and issues. J R Soc Med. 1993;86 (Suppl 20):11–18. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kilby J. M., Gilligan P. H., Yankaskas J. R., Highsmith W. E., Jr, Edwards L. J., Knowles M. R. Nontuberculous mycobacteria in adult patients with cystic fibrosis. Chest. 1992 Jul;102(1):70–75. doi: 10.1378/chest.102.1.70. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Moore D. F., Curry J. I. Detection and identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis directly from sputum sediments by Amplicor PCR. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Oct;33(10):2686–2691. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.10.2686-2691.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pfyffer G. E., Kissling P., Wirth R., Weber R. Direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in respiratory specimens by a target-amplified test system. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Apr;32(4):918–923. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.4.918-923.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rosenfeld M., Ramsey B. Evolution of airway microbiology in the infant with cystic fibrosis: role of nonpseudomonal and pseudomonal pathogens. Semin Respir Infect. 1992 Sep;7(3):158–167. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Whittier S., Hopfer R. L., Knowles M. R., Gilligan P. H. Improved recovery of mycobacteria from respiratory secretions of patients with cystic fibrosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Apr;31(4):861–864. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.4.861-864.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wurtz R., Demarais P., Trainor W., McAuley J., Kocka F., Mosher L., Dietrich S. Specimen contamination in mycobacteriology laboratory detected by pseudo-outbreak of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: analysis by routine epidemiology and confirmation by molecular technique. J Clin Microbiol. 1996 Apr;34(4):1017–1019. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.4.1017-1019.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]