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Comparison of culture media for detection of Acinetobacter baumannii in surveillance cultures of critically-ill patients

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of CHROMagar Acinetobacter when compared to sheep blood agar, MacConkey agar and MacConkey agar with 6 μg/ml of imipenem for the detection of A. baumannii in surveillance cultures of hospitalized patients. We utilized peri-anal swabs and sputum samples from patients admitted to the University of Maryland Medical Center ICUs from December 7 through December 21, 2009. Samples were plated onto four media in the following order: (1) 5% sheep blood agar (SBA), (2) MacConkey agar, (3) MacConkey agar with 6 μg/ml of imipenem, and (4) CHROMagar Acinetobacter (CHROMagar). SBA was the gold standard to which all media was compared. There were 165 samples collected during the study period. SBA and CHROMagar detected 18 of 18 (100%) Acinetobacter and 11 of 11 (100%) MDR-A. baumannii. MacConkey agar detected 16 of 18 (89%) Acinetobacter and 10 of 11 (91%) MDR- A. baumannii while MacConkey agar with 6 μg/ml imipenem detected 9 of 11 (82%) MDR-A. baumannii. CHROMagar did not differentiate MDR- A. baumannii from non-MDR-A. baumannii. CHROMagar may be useful for rapid detection of patients with MDR-A. baumannii if improved upon to better select for MDR-A. baumannii.

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Acknowledgements

CHROMagar (Paris, France) supplied powdered media for the study and supported previous presentation of this data.

Dr. Harris was supported by National Institutes of Health Midcareer Investigator Award 1K24AI079040 and 2R01AI060859-05. Dr. Furuno was supported by National Institutes of Health Career Development Award 1K01AI071015-03 and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Contract Number: HHSA290200600020. Dr. Johnson is supported by National Institutes of Health grant 1K12RR023250-03. AO received travel funds to present this data at the 50th ICAAC, Boston, MA, 2010.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to report.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 685 W. Baltimore St, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    A. O. Ajao, G. Robinson, M. S. Lee, T. D. Ranke, J. P. Furuno, A. D. Harris & J. K. Johnson

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 685 W. Baltimore St, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    R. A. Venezia & J. K. Johnson

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  1. A. O. Ajao
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  2. G. Robinson
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  3. M. S. Lee
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  6. J. P. Furuno
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Correspondence to A. O. Ajao.

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Ajao, A.O., Robinson, G., Lee, M.S. et al. Comparison of culture media for detection of Acinetobacter baumannii in surveillance cultures of critically-ill patients. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 30, 1425–1430 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-011-1237-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-011-1237-7

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