Table 2. Campylobacter-specific laboratory practices for 107 Pennsylvania laboratories performing testing of stool specimens, 2009*.
| Laboratory practice/method | No. (%) laboratories |
|---|---|
| Included in routine testing | 104 (97.2) |
| Special request culture | 1 (0.9) |
| Culture plus antigen testing | 1 (0.9) |
| Perform culture on positive antigen assay | 2 (1.9) |
| Campylobacter antigen testing only | 17 (15.8) |
| Culture broth enrichment usage | |
| Yes (9 Campy-Thio, 1 GNB, 4 unspecified) | 14 (13.1) |
| No | 89 (83.2) |
| No response | 4 (3.7) |
| Length of Incubation, h | |
| 24 | 1 (<1) |
| 48 | 64 (59.8) |
| 72 | 33 (30.8) |
| No response | 9 (8.4) |
| Type of medium used for Campylobacter culture | |
| Campy-BAP | 65 (60.7) |
| CVA | 30 (27.8) |
| Skirrow | 2 (1.9) |
| CSM | 2 (1.8) |
| CCDA or mCCDA | 0 |
| Not specified or not cultured | 8 (7.5) |
| Temperature used for culture, °C | |
| 37 | 3 (2.8) |
| 42 | 96 (89.7) |
| Not specified | 8 (7.5) |
| Atmosphere used for culture | |
| Microaerobic, 5% O2 | 96 (89.7) |
| 10% CO2 | 1 (0.9) |
| Both | 1(0.9) |
| Not specified | 9 (8.4) |
| Tests used for identification of Campylobacter spp. | |
| Gram stain | 96 (89.7) |
| Oxidase | 92 (86) |
| Catalase | 70 (65.4) |
| Hippurate hydrolysis | 51 (47.7) |
| Naladixic acid/cephalothin disk identification | 21 (19.6) |
| Indoxyl acetate | 7 (6.5) |
| Send to a reference laboratory | 6 (5.6) |
| Other, not specified | 33 (30.8) |
| Performs susceptibility testing | 4 (3.7) |
*Campy-Thio, Campylobacter thioglycollate broth; GNB, gram-negative broth; Campy-BAP, Campylobacter blood agar plates; CVA, cefoperazone-vancomycin-amphotericin; CSM, charcoal-based selective medium; CCDA, charcoal-cefoperazone-deoxycholate agar; mCCDA, modified CCDA.