The value of culture in the diagnosis of tuberculosis

Abstract

Summary A system of culture diagnosis of tubercle bacilli is outlined and a group of experiments reported to show that such a system is equal to and slightly more effective than animal inoculation. Diagnosis has been made in eight specimens with a negative animal while only four have been made by the positive animal with negative culture. Atypical strains contaminated with spore-forming micro-organisms are the only ones that offer difficulty in arriving at a diagnosis by culture. Such strains can best be handled by a combination of animal inoculation and culture. We have demonstrated that, up to the present time, the “milk” medium is equal to and the “cream” medium superior to every other, for the primary isolation and rapidity of growth of all types of tubercle bacilli.