BILE BROTH BASE

Description

Enterobacteriaceae inhabit a wide variety of niches that include the human gastrointestinal tract and various environmental niches. When blood samples from a patient with suspected enteric fever is submitted for the widal test, it is useful as a routine to culture the clot after separation of serum. If it is known that the blood has been withdrawn with strict aseptic precautions, the clot may be placed in a wide tube half-filled with broth, or in a wide mouth screw-capped bottle containing 80 ml of broth. When there is any doubt regarding the presence of contaminating organisms, and this is always a possibility when blood specimens are sent to the laboratory from a distance, the clot should be transferred directly to a tube of sterile ox bile and disintegrated with aseptic precautions. After overnight incubation the bile culture is examined for enteric organism in the usual manner. A method of clot culture with Streptokinase has been recommended. Blood is allowed to clot in 5 ml quantities in sterile screw-capped universal containers. The separated serum is removed and 15 ml of 0.5% Bile Broth Base with Streptokinase 100 units/ml is added to each bottle. The streptokinase causes rapid clot lysis with release of bacteria trapped in the clot.