Identification of members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and the M. avium-M. intracellulare complex (MAC) directly from primary BACTEC cultures was evaluated by using acridinium-ester-labeled DNA probes (AccuProbe; GenProbe, Inc., San Diego, Calif.). In preliminary experiments, blood present in samples was found to interfere with the assay because of nonspecific chemiluminescence, wh...

Incorporating resins in blood culture media can effectively reduce the activities of several antibiotics. It was shown that the activities of some generally used antibiotics decreased by 80 to 90% within 2 h in Bactec Plus Aerobic/F resin-containing culture medium. Bactec vials containing resins were still found to be positive for bacteria when antibiotics were present. The addition of beta-lac...

In a collaborative study at three university hospitals, the recovery of microorganisms and the speed of detection of microbial growth by the BacT/Alert (Organon Teknika Corporation, Durham, N.C.) and BACTEC 660/730 (Becton-Dickinson Diagnostic Instrument Systems, Sparks, Md.) nonradiometric blood culture systems were compared. A total of 5,918 comparisons were made between BacT/Alert aerobic an...

The BACTEC system (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, Md.) was compared with culture on Löwenstein-Jensen egg medium for the detection of Mycobacterium malmoense in lymph node samples from children with lymphadenitis. It was found to be significantly more sensitive and rapid. The use of the BACTEC system is thus recommended as a complement to culture on solid media for the primary isolation of atypical ...

BACTEC 460 has now been phased out, so the search for an alternative is imperative. We have determined the activity of standard anti-tuberculosis drugs against intramacrophage Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in vitro, by using BACTEC 460 and MGIT 960 methods. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and streptomycin against intracellular M. tuberculosis H37Rv were ...

Bactec NR-660, a computerised blood culture system using infrared analysis of microbial generated carbon dioxide, was compared with the Signal system, which detects gaseous pressure (due to bacterial metabolism) by a manometer. Four trials were undertaken: an in vitro evaluation of 99 bacteria in simulated blood cultures, and three prospective comparisons of a total of 2588 paired patient sampl...

In an effort to improve detection of fastidious organisms, joint fluid aspirates of pediatric patients were inoculated into BACTEC 460 aerobic blood culture bottles, in addition to cultures on solid media. Culture records for the 1988 to 1991 period were reviewed to compare the performance of both methods for the recovery of pathogens. Overall, 216 children underwent a diagnostic joint tap, and...

BACKGROUND Drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a growing concern worldwide. Rapid detection of resistance expedites appropriate intervention to control the disease. Several technologies have recently been reported to detect rifampicin resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis directly in sputum samples. These include phenotypic culture based methods, tests for gene mutations and tests based on bacte...

This article reports our experience with the BACTEC 460 TB system in the past five years and its performance characteristics and its advantages over the conventional LJ medium for mycobacterial culture. Clinical specimens (3597) from patients suspected to have tuberculosis were submitted for mycobacterial culture between May 2000 and August 2005 and were processed using the BACTEC 460 TB system...

The susceptibility of 115 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex clinical isolates to isoniazid, streptomycin, ethambutol, and rifampin was assessed by the MB/BacT and BACTEC 460TB systems. The correlation between the two tests was 98.3% for isoniazid, 100% for streptomycin and rifampin, and 95.8% for ethambutol. Turnaround times for antimicrobial susceptibility testing ranged from 5 to 11 days (me...