This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Slifkin, M Articles by Gil, G M Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Slifkin, M Articles by Gil, G M

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J Clin Microbiol. 1984 July; 20(1): 12-14

Evaluation of the Culturette Brand Ten-Minute Group A Strep ID technique.

ABSTRACT

A direct extraction of the antigens of group A beta-hemolytic streptococci from 557 throat swabs was performed by a new microtechnique of the nitrous acid extraction method with the Culturette Brand Ten-Minute Strep ID technique from Marion Scientific, Division of Marion Laboratories, Inc., Kansas City, Mo. This group A latex reagent kit contains the reagents for the micronitrous acid extraction of throat swabs and does not require a centrifugation step in its protocol. There was a 99.3% (553 of 557) total agreement between the direct nitrous acid extraction-latex agglutination method and the standard culture method. The direct extraction method yielded an identification of 95.1% (78 of 82) of the group A streptococci identified by the standard method. Throat swabs used for standard culture may also be extracted with nitrous acid for the detection of group A antigen. A 5-min nitrous acid extraction destroys the viability of bacteria associated with normal throat flora as well as group A streptococci and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This highly rapid method is simple to perform and requires no costly instrumentation. Accordingly, it would be most applicable in a hospital laboratory as well as in a physician's office.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Hedges, J. R., Singal, B. M., Estep, J. L. (1991). The Impact of a Rapid Screen for Streptococcal Pharyngitis on Clinical Decision Making in the Emergency Department. Med Decis Making 11: 119-124 [Abstract]  
• White, C. B., Harris, R., Weir, M. R., Gonzales, I., Bass, J. W. (1988). Streptococcal Pharyngitis: Comparison of Latex Agglutination and Throat Culture. CLIN PEDIATR 27: 431-434 [Abstract]