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Volume 18, Number 3—March 2012
Dispatch

Culturing Stool Specimens for Campylobacter spp., Pennsylvania, USA

Nkuchia M. M’ikanatha, Lisa A. Dettinger, Amanda Perry, Paul Rogers, Stanley M. Reynolds, and Irving NachamkinComments to Author 
Author affiliations: Pennsylvania Department of Health, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA (N.M. M’ikanatha, A. Perry); Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (N.M. M’ikanatha, I. Nachamkin); Pennsylvania Department of Health, Exton, Pennsylvania, USA (L.A. Dettinger, P. Rogers, S.M. Reynolds)

Main Article

Table 1

General laboratory practices for 107 Pennsylvania laboratories performing testing of stool specimens, 2009*

Laboratory practice/method No. (%) laboratories
Routine stool culture includes the following pathogens
Salmonella spp. 107 (100)
Shigella spp. 107 (100)
Campylobacter spp. 104 (97.2)
Aeromonas spp. 62 (57.9)
Plesiomonas spp. 59 (55.1)
Vibrio spp. 24 (22.2)
Yersinia spp. 38 (35.5)
Escherichia coli O157 and STEC stool testing
Routine E. coli O157culture 44 (41.1)
Culture plus Shiga toxin antigen testing 17 (15.8)
Special request E. coli O157 culture 47 (43.9)
Special request Shiga-toxin antigen 52 (48.6)
Special request stool culture for the following pathogens
Aeromonas spp. 35 (32.7)
Plesiomonas spp. 34 (31.8)
Vibrio spp. 75 (70.0)
Yersinia spp. 65 (60.7)
Fecal white cell analysis 99 (92.5)
Transport medium† 47 (43.9)
Medium used
Cary-Blair 41 (87.0)
Not specified 6 (13.0)
No medium used 59 (55.1)
No response 1 (<1.0)
Average time to plating stool specimen after receipt, h
<4 81 (75.7)
4–8 23 (21.5)
>8 3 (2.8)

*STEC, Shiga toxin–producing E. coli.
†Laboratories received specimens in transport media >75% of the time.

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Page created: February 16, 2012
Page updated: February 16, 2012
Page reviewed: February 16, 2012
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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