Ryan K J, Mihalyi S F
J Clin Microbiol. 1977 Feb;5(2):178-83. doi: 10.1128/jcm.5.2.178-183.1977.
The Aerotest sampler (Olympic Medical Corp., Seattle, Wash.) is designed to detect bacterial contamination of respirator-generated aerosols in a simple one-step process. The sampler was evaluated by controlled contamination of Bennett AP-5, PR-2, and MA-1 respirators with Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter. Bacteria present as viable 1.4 to 3.5-mum particles in each of 77 aerosols were quantitated by using the Andersen viable-particle sampler, and the results were compared with those of colonies obtained from 10-s or 15-cycle Aerotest samples. All aerosols containing counts greater than expected in hospital air were detected by the Aerotest method. Thirteen of 14 aerosols containing less than 20 bacteria/0.028 m3 showed fewer than 5 colonies, whereas all aerosols containing greater than 1,000 bacteria/0.028 m3 showed at least 40 colonies. Aerosols with intermediate counts fell in between. Under the conditions described here, the Aerotest sampler was able to discriminate between the low levels of bacteria commonly found in hospital air and the bacterial contamination associated with nosocomial pneumonia. The Aerotest sampler provides a practical method for surveillance sampling of respirator nebulizers.
Aerotest采样器（奥林匹克医疗公司，华盛顿州西雅图）旨在通过一个简单的步骤检测呼吸器产生的气溶胶中的细菌污染。通过用大肠杆菌、铜绿假单胞菌和不动杆菌对贝内特AP - 5、PR - 2和MA - 1呼吸器进行受控污染来评估该采样器。使用安德森活菌颗粒采样器对77种气溶胶中每一种以1.4至3.5微米活菌颗粒形式存在的细菌进行定量，并将结果与从10秒或15个循环的Aerotest样本中获得的菌落结果进行比较。Aerotest方法检测到了所有细菌计数高于医院空气中预期的气溶胶。14种每0.028立方米含细菌少于20个的气溶胶中有13种显示菌落少于5个，而所有每0.028立方米含细菌多于1000个的气溶胶显示至少40个菌落。中等计数的气溶胶则介于两者之间。在此处描述的条件下，Aerotest采样器能够区分医院空气中常见的低水平细菌和与医院获得性肺炎相关的细菌污染。Aerotest采样器为呼吸器雾化器的监测采样提供了一种实用方法。
