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Research Article| Volume 16, ISSUE 3, P551-567, September 1996

Primary Processing of Specimens and Isolation and Cultivation of Mycobacteria

  • Gerri S. Hall
    Correspondence
    Address reprint requests to: Gerri S. Hall, PhD, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue (L-40), Cleveland, OH 44195–5140
    Affiliations
    From the Department of Clinical Pathology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio
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      Processing of specimens for mycobacteria need to proceed as rapidly as possible to provide 24-hour turnaround for smears and 21-day turnaround for the identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. If these goals are to be accomplished, a broth culture or microcolony plate method must be part of the media and in the planting process. Use of conventional solid media alone does not provide adequate turnaround time.
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