Use of Filtration to Isolate Campylobacter and Related Organisms from Stools

Abstract

Previous investigators have shown that Campylobacter species other than C. jejuni (or related genera such as Arcobacter or Helicobacter) may not grow on selective media or at 42°C. Therefore, investigators have proposed either modified selective media or the use of filtration onto non-selective media followed by incubation at 35°C⁸. We recently completed a 32 month study comparing Campylobacter isolation on selective media to that obtained by filtration. Our results indicate that filtration is most effective when combined with incubation in an atmosphere containing hydrogen. We found that filtration was equivalent to the selective media for the isolation of C. jejuni; however, many non-C. jejuni isolates were only recovered when the filtration method was used.