TRANSPORT SWAB W/ SOYABEAN CASEIN DIGEST MEDIUM W/ 6.5% NACL

The sole purpose of this medium is to maintain the viability of the microorganisms during time for collection to examine the specimen. Casein Digest Medium, a general purpose medium is known to support growth of bacterial species. Mueller Hinton Agar with 2% and 4% sodium chloride has been studied for isolating MRSA that are resistant
to oxacillin.
Conventional methods for screening MRSA detects by inhibiting contaminants and selection based on antibiotic resistance. Direct plating methods are often followed but broth enrichment step prior to plating helps in good recovery of MRSA.
Staphylococci have the unique ability of growing on a high salt containing media. Therefore growth medium supplemented with high concentration of sodium chloride inhibits normal organisms other than Staphylococci. Enriched specimen can be then plated directly onto selective media or chromogenic media for direct identification of MRSA. MRSA strains are referred to as hetero-resistant because two subpopulations coexist within a culture. The resistant population usually grows much more slowly than the susceptible subpopulation leading to detection problems with traditional in vitro susceptibility test methods. Successful detection depends largely on promoting the growth of the resistant subpopulation, which favors lower temperatures, longer incubation and the presence of salt in the media.

with 2.0ml TSB medium and one swab recommended for collection & transport of aerobic, anaerobic
and fastidious organisms from rectum.