Is blood agar an alternative to sabouraud dextrose agar for the isolation of fungi in patients with mycotic keratitis

Int Ophthalmol. 2013 Jun;33(3):251-4. doi: 10.1007/s10792-012-9683-5. Epub 2012 Nov 30.

Abstract

To compare the blood agar (BA), sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) and chocolate agar (CA) for the isolation of fungi in patients with mycotic keratitis. Corneal Scrapings of 229 patients with clinically diagnosed microbial keratitis were inoculated on BA, SDA, CA. The culture media were evaluated for the rate and time taken for the fungal growth. Seventy six of 229 patients had fungal keratitis. Fungus grew on BA in 60/76(78.9 %), on SDA in 76/76 (100 %), on CA in 40/76(52.6 %) patients. The fungi which grew on BA (60/76) also grown on SDA at the same time. The colony morphologies of different fungi were better on SDA than BA/CA. Among the different culture media, SDA is essential for the isolation fungi in patients with mycotic keratitis.

MeSH terms

  • Agar
  • Blood
  • Cacao
  • Culture Media / chemistry
  • Culture Media / standards*
  • Eye Infections, Fungal / diagnosis*
  • Fungi / growth & development
  • Fungi / isolation & purification*
  • Glucose
  • Humans
  • Keratitis / diagnosis*
  • Keratitis / microbiology

Substances

  • Culture Media
  • Agar
  • Glucose