This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ribeiro, F. K. C.
Right arrow Articles by Palaci, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ribeiro, F. K. C.
Right arrow Articles by Palaci, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2009, p. 1950-1952, Vol. 47, No. 6
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00626-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Evaluation of Low-Colony-Number Counts of Mycobacterium tuberculosis on Solid Media as a Microbiological Marker of Cross-Contamination{triangledown}

F. K. C. Ribeiro,1 E. M. Lemos,1 D. J. Hadad,1 S. C. Leão,2 C. Viana-Niero,2 R. Dietze,1 J. L. Johnson,3 K. D. Eisenach,4 and M. Palaci1*

Núcleo de Doenças Infecciosas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil,1 Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia, e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, São Paulo, Brazil,2 Tuberculosis Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio,3 Department of Pathology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas4

Received 27 March 2009/ Accepted 30 March 2009

Low-colony-number counts on solid media are considered characteristic of cross-contamination, although they are normally observed in true-positive cultures from some groups of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate low-yield growth cultures as a microbiological marker for cross-contamination. We evaluated 106 cultures with <15 colonies from 94 patients, and the proportions of false-positive cultures were 0.9% per sample and 1.1% per patient, which indicates that low-yield growth is not a reliable marker of cross-contamination.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Núcleo de Doenças Infecciosas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Marechal Campos, 1468, Maruípe, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Phone: 55 27 3335 7210. Fax: 55 27 3335 7206. E-mail: mpalaci{at}ndi.ufes.br

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 22 April 2009.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2009, p. 1950-1952, Vol. 47, No. 6
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00626-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»