COMPARISON OF A COMBINED QUALITATIVE AND SEMIQUANTITATIVE URINE CULTURE METHOD WITH THE STANDARD CALIBRATED LOOP METHOD

Abstract

229 urines obtained from college coeds with acute urinary tract infections were examined by comparing the standard calibrated loop culture method with a combination of qualitative Greiss Test (Bac-U-Dip) and a semiquantitative (Bacturcult) method. Analysis of the data demonstrated a small false positive (F.P.) but a marked false negative (F.N.) rate for Bac-U-Dip (BUD). The false negative rate for Bacturcult (B/C) was zero and the false positive rate, when compared to a no-growth culture (NG) was also low (1/70). The combination of Bacturcult and Bac-U-Dip provides both low false positive and false negative rates.