WW> I am trying to find a reference for a procedure to drop an Optichin
WW> disc on the initial inoculum of a sputum culture. Has anyone done
WW> this in
We have been doing it since we started (10 years ago), combined with a
streak of staph and a bacitracin tablet on a horseblood agar.
The Bacitracin combined with staph is a good help in finding H.
influenzae, and optochin will often help in discriminating pneumococcus
colonies from other steptococci some strep colonies looks very much like
pneumococci, but if they grow close to the optochin tablet you know what
they are, and you can often clearly see other colonies with a slightly
different appearence being inhibited.
We put the Bacitarcin in the first, and optochin in the second streak,
and find it very good, combined of course with a good microscopy and a
skilled technician.
Yours
Hans Erik Busk
Denmark
* RM 1.3 02496 * PFAA -> Peoples Front Against Acronyms
