Authors:
Bowen AC, Tonga SYC, Chatfield MD, Andrews RM, Carapetis JR
Authors notes:
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2013;107(6):384-389
Keywords:
Australia, Impetigo, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Swabs, Transport medium
Abstract:
Impetigo is a common infection in children living in remote areas.
Immediate plating of impetigo swabs is the gold standard for bacterial recovery but is rarely feasible in remote regions.
Bacterial culture increases our understanding of antibiotic resistance and strain diversity, which guides treatment protocols and epidemiological monitoring.
Recovery of Strep. pyogenes for dry vs STGGB was 72% (26/36) and 92% (33/36) and for STGGB vs Amies was 92% (36/39) for both methods.
Staphylococcus aureus recovery for dry vs STGGB was 69% (25/36) and 72% 26/36) and for STGGB vs Amies was 74% (29/39) and 85% (33/39).
STGGB and Amies media provided higher recovery of Strep. pyogenes than dry swabs.
These results and the opportunity to batch and store specimens for molecular studies support the use of STGGB transport media for future impetigo research.