An evaluation of alkaline peptone water for enrichment of Vibrio cholerae in feces.

A comparison was made to determine the sensitivity of direct inoculation of thiosulfate citrate bile salts agar (TCBS) and alkaline peptone water (APW) enrichment prior to direct inoculation of TCBS to culture Vibrio cholerae from feces of patients with gastroenteritis. V. cholerae was isolated from 611 feces specimens. Of those, 535 were isolated in TCBS and APW-TCBS, 15 in only TCBS and 61 in only APW-TCBS. V. parahemolyticus (21) and non-agglutinating vibrios (11) were also isolated but more often in direct inoculated TCBS than APW-TCBS cultures. Maximum isolation sensitivity of V. cholerae and V. parahemolyticus from feces is obtained by both direct inoculation of TCBS and enrichment in APW prior to TCBS inoculation.