TABLE 2.
Viable-aerosol generation during manual sample preparation
| Sputum preparation method | CFU/m3 airb |
|
|---|---|---|
| Andersen impactor | BioSampler | |
| SR added to sputum, then cartridge loaded without incubationa | 6 ± 5.5 | 67 ± 115.4c |
| SR added to sputum, then cartridge loaded after 15-min incubationa | 0 | 0 |
| Sputum smeared directly on microscope slides; no SR | 16 ± 2.3 | 325 ± 112.5 |
a
After SR addition, samples were pipetted in and out of three Xpert MTB/RIF cartridges (equivalent to loading >30 cartridges).
b
Mean and standard deviation of three experiments.
c
Two of the three replicates did not show any growth in the 7H9 medium.