[Comparative study with 2 new and 8 known nutrient media for cultivation of fastidious and nonfastidious microbial agents from cerebrospinal fluid and other body fluids].

Rapid physical, biochemical and immunological methods may be useful in the detection of microbial agents in cerebrospinal fluid and in other body fluids. However, these methods are no substitution for the cultivation of the microbial agents. Microorganisms which are most frequently responsible for meningitis are fastidious in their growth requirements. Their detection with the help of conventional blood culture media which are not supplemented with blood or its components, leads to a high quota of false-negative results. Taking this problem into consideration, the authors developed the following two new media: "MOPS Electrolyte Broth A" for culturing obligate aerobic and facultative anerobic microorganisms, and "MOPS Electrolyte Broth AN" for culturing facultative anaerobic and obligate anaerobic bacteria. Performance tests have been carried out with the two above mentioned media and eight commercially manufactured blood culture media in original bottles. Twenty representative test strains including the most important and fastidious microbial agents of meningitis have been considered in this study. The inoculum size was about 10(2) CFU per culture bottle. The two new media, which were not supplemented with blood or body fluids, proved to be more effective than the conventional blood culture media supplemented with 10% fresh human blood for culturing the considered spectrum of microorganisms.