ABSTRACT
Introduction: Staphylococcus is one of the most common bacteria routinely isolated in microbiological laboratories. Identification of staphylococcus at species level requires battery of tests. In developing countries identification at species level is usually done by coagulase test (slide & Tube). Coagulase test requires human or sheep plasma. Human & sheep plasma has the disadvantage of having low sensitivity & low specificity and risk of biohazard. Mannitol fermentation is an important tool for diagnosis of staphylococcus at species level and it also overcomes the disadvantage of coagulase test. The objective of this study was to compare sensitivity of mannitol fermentation test with coagulase test for identification of S aureus. Material & Methods: Among all clinical samples received, 100 isolates of Staphylococcus were compared for coagulase test (slide &tube) & mannitol fermentation. Results: In our study, among 100 staphylococcal isolates, positive mannitol fermentation test reaction was seen in all 100 isolates while positive tube coagulase test was seen among 94 isolates. Conclusion: Sensitivity of Mannitol fermentation test is more as compared to coagulase test. Mannitol fermentation test can be used for diagnosis of S. aureus along with coagulase test to improve the sensitivity of coagulase test or it can also be used as single gold standard method for diagnosis of S. aureus.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Candidiasis is one of the important opportunistic fungal infections in human. Candida albicans (C.albicans) is the predominant Candida species isolated from clinical samples. In routine laboratory, C.albicans is diagnosed on the basis of culture, staining morphology, germ tube production, & chlamydospore formation on cornmeal agar. The objective of this study was to assess the reliability of different media for germ tube production. Material & Methods: The study was carried out on various clinical samples received in Microbiology department of M.P.Shah medical college, Jamnagar from January to July 2011. Among all clinical samples, 100 isolates of C.albicans were compared for germ tube production in 4 different media (sterile horse serum, pooled human serum, trypticase soy broth and Brain heart infusion (BHI) broth. Candida species were also identified by using culture, staining morphology, & chlamydospore formation on cornmeal agar. Results: In our study, among 100 C.albicans isolates, sterile horse serum gave 100% germ tube production, pooled human serum gave 93%, BHI gave 63% and trypticase soy broth gave 60% germ tube production at the end of 2 hours of incubation. Conclusion: This study shows that sterile horse serum is best medium for germ tube production of C.albicans and it can replace human serum which has its disadvantage in being bio hazardous with false negative reporting.