There are in fact over 2,000 members or serotypes ofSalmonella, identified by the surface O and H antigens found in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and flagella of the organism, respectively[7]

There are in fact over 2,000 members or serotypes ofSalmonella, identified by the surface O and H antigens found in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and flagella of the organism, respectively[7]. conventional agar culture and identification. TUBEX TP was performed before the culture results. Eighteen isolates ofS. Typhi (15 after 2 days) and 10 isolates ofS. Paratyphi A (4 after 2 days) were obtained by conventional culture. Both theseSalmonellaserotypes, the main causes of enteric fever, share the O12 antigen. In all instances where either of these organisms was present (cultured), TUBEX TP was positive (score 4 [light blue] to score 10 [dark blue]; negative is 0 [pink-colored]) i.e. 100% sensitive. Identification of the specificSalmonellaserotype in TUBEX-positive cases was achieved subsequently by conventional slide agglutination using appropriate polyclonal antisera against the various serotypes. TwelveEscherichia coli, 1Alcaligenesspp. and 1Enterobacterspp. were isolated. All of these cases, including all the 36 culture-negative broths, were TUBEX-negative i.e. TUBEX TP was 100% specific. In a separate study using known laboratory strains, TUBEX TF, which detectsS. Typhi but notS. Paratyphi A via the O9 antigen, was found to efficiently complement TUBEX TP as a differential test. Thus, TUBEX TP and TUBEX TF are useful adjuncts to conventional culture because they can save considerable time (>2 days), costs and manpower. == Introduction == It is important that infectious diseases are correctly identified as quickly as possible for the sake of both patient care and public health. This, however, is sometimes difficult when only clinical evidence is available, because many diseases of different origins can resemble one another. An Pirodavir example is the acute fevers seen commonly in the tropics, which include not only enteric fever, but also dengue fever, malaria and rickettsial fever among the host of diseases. Another example is food poisoning that affects both resource-poor and developed economies[1], which is caused, commonly, by several types of bacteria and viruses. A recent outbreak due to enterohemorrhagicEscherichia coliwhich plagued Europe for weeks[2]underscores just how vulnerable the global community (or economy) is to such infections. Definitive diagnosis relies on good laboratory investigations. For many diseases, either or both of the following investigative approaches are usually adopted: (a) Isolation and identification of the infectious agent in culture media, and (b) Detection of antigens of the infectious agent, or antibodies induced by these antigens, in the serum or other body fluids of the infected patient. Which one of these approaches is more appropriate or efficacious depends on the disease. For example, at the extremes, culturing is always used to investigate cases of food poisoning, while serology (based on immunological detection) is almost exclusively used to diagnose syphilis. Traditionally, however, culturing is often regarded as the gold standard of diagnosis, a view that has recently been questioned for some diseases[3],[4]. The main problem with culturing is that this is often long and cumbersome, and it requires a specialized laboratory and staff. Serology, on the other hand, allows a faster turnaround time and is generally less demanding on personnel and laboratory. In fact, great strides have been made over the years in immunodiagnosis with the introduction of Pirodavir point-of-care tests that do not require laboratory or instrumentation, and which can be performed by non-specialist staff. Importantly, the results of many of these tests can be known within 10 mins. In contrast, little progress has been made to make culturing simpler and quicker the process still takes Pirodavir days or even weeks, since typically, one or more days are required for the organism to grow in an initial enrichment broth, another day for a subsequent agar subculture, and at least another Pirodavir day to identify Pirodavir any colonies obtained by biochemical analysis. In this communication, we sought to Rabbit Polyclonal to SF3B4 simplify the culture method, acknowledging the fact that culturing, though cumbersome, is indispensable for some diseases, and for others, it complements serology very well. Since it would be difficult to speed up the growth of an organism, we.