[Cultivation possibility for obligatory anaerobic bacteria from contaminated cotton carriers after storage. Comparative testing of simple swabs and swabs in transport medium using Stuart's method].

26 strains of obligate anaerobic bacteria, which had been isolated from clinical specimens, were tested for their survival on artificially contaminated cotton swabs after storage. All strains could hardly if at all be cultivated, if the cotton swabs had been stored in empty test tubes at 4 degrees C for 48 hrs. In contrast to that it was possible to cultivate all strains without significant reduction of their number from swabs, which were stored at 4 degrees C for 48 hrs in test tubes containing Stuart's transport medium. The necessity of an improvement of techniques and transport-methods to isolate anaerobic bacteria is discussed. The use of a special transport medium is recommended as an important aid to the early recognition of anaerobic infection.