Recommended culture methods for monitoring bacterial contamination of H2O, dialysate and bicarbonate concentrate in dialysis centers in the USA involves culturing these fluids for 48 h at 37 °C. A variety of media and commercial culture methods are accepted for monitoring these fluids. Over a 3 month period a comparison was made between an acceptable culture method, tryptic soy agar (TSA) employing the pour plate (PP) technique at 37 °C for 48 h, and PP cultures on standard methods agar (SMA) and R2A agar, incubated at ambient temperature (23°C) for 48, 72, 168 h. Increases in the colony counts over time occurred for all three fluids. However, counts were greater on SMA and R2A than on TSA. The increases over the standard 48-hour TSA cultures ranged as high as 104 times for 23°C cultures at 7 days of incubation. Endotoxin levels even in the most contaminated samples were found to be below the acceptable 5 EU/ml recommended for reprocessor water. Bacterial colonies that appeared at 48, 72 and 168 h were isolated and identified. Pseudomonas, Moraxella, Acinetobacter and CDC group VI C-2 were among some of the common bacteria isolated. This study indicates that the media utilized, the time and temperature of incubation may result in a significant underestimation of the bacterial population of water and dialysis fluids, thus potentially placing the patient at a higher risk.

Keywords:
Endotoxm, Dialysis, Bacterial contamination
This content is only available via PDF.
© 1996 S. Karger AG, Basel
1996
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
You do not currently have access to this content.