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Survival of leptospires in commercial blood culture systems revisited
1PHLS Leptospira Reference Unit/WHO/FAO Collaborating Centre for Research on Leptospirosis, County Hospital, Hereford, UK. mf.palmer@talk21.com
Aim:
To assess the ability of commercial blood culture systems to maintain leptospires.
Methods:
Nine different commercial blood culture bottles were compared for their ability to maintain four leptospiral strains at two temperatures, 30 degrees C and 37 degrees C. Bottles were subcultured at 48 hours, and one, two, three, and four week intervals and examined microscopically for the presence of viable leptospires.
Results:
The results were comparable with those of an earlier study, which showed that different commercial blood culture systems varied in their ability to maintain leptospires.
Conclusions:
No single factor appears to influence the viability of leptospires in blood culture systems. In general, the combination of an aerobic blood culture and an incubation temperature of 30 degrees C enhances the viability of leptospires, and hence would increase the chances of their subsequent isolation from suspected cases of leptospiraemia.
