Methods for isolation of anaerobes in the clinical laboratory

Major points to be emphasized include: 1) Anaerobes are very numerous in nature, but only a relatively small number of species are commonly associated with disease in man; 2) The majority of anaerobic bacterial infections involve endogenous rather than exogenous microorganisms, and the patients are usually compromised in some manner prior to infection; and 3) Success in isolating anaerobic bacteria requires careful performance and control of each step in the isolation procedure. These steps include selection and collection of clinical specimens, microscopic examinations, selection and use of primary isolation media, use of anaerobic systems, incubation of cultures and subculture of colonies to obtain pure culture isolates.