Culture-Based Bulk, Swab or Teftex Wipe Samples

Background The Gram negative bacterium Legionella pneumophila is a common environmental cause of pneumonia, often associated with institutional outbreaks and environmental exposures. Legionella pneumophila is an endosymbiont of single celled protozoa that live in warm, stagnant water, particularly around temperatures of 30-40 °C. Building systems such as humidifiers and evaporative coolers may become contaminated by […]

The analysis of vacuum collected dust is widely used to estimate microbiological exposures in human population health studies. In this context, dust analysis has repeatedly proven to be a useful proxy of exposure, because it serves as a reservoir for particles to which people are exposed in indoor environments. Dust itself also serves as a […]

Bulk samples In the laboratory, a semiquantitative fungal culture of a bulk sample is generally carried out by aseptically taking tiny shavings from the specimen and sprinkling them over the surface of a Petri dish filled with growth medium. Alternatively, a swab may be used in the laboratory to recover any loose debris from the […]

Solid or so-called “bulk” materials, such as wood, carpet, and other insoluble, solid items, can be evaluated by quantitative fungal culture to determine their culturable fungal content. All or a portion of the specimen is weighed, placed in a buffer solution and vigorously agitated to suspend adherent spores or vegetative hyphae. Aliquots of suspension are […]

This test determines the presence of culturable thermophilic actinomycetes in bulk and swab samples. Test results are provided semiquantitatively as 1+, 2+, 3+, etc., where the number preceding the “plus sign” indicates the order of magnitude of colonies observed. Actinomycetes are a large and diverse group of Gram-positive bacteria that have growth habits similar to […]