Typical Cerebrospinal Fluid Findings in Various Types of Meningitis

Test Bacterial Viral Fungal Tubercular

Opening
pressure
Elevated Usually
normal
Variable Variable
White
blood cell
count
!""" per
mm#
$"" per
mm#
Variable Variable
Cell
di%erential
&redominanc
e of &M's(
&redominance
of
lymphocytes)
&redominance
of
lymphocytes
&redominance
of
lymphocytes
&rotein Mild to
mar*ed
elevation
'ormal to
elevated
Elevated Elevated
C+F,to,
serum
glucose
ratio
'ormal to
mar*ed
decrease
Usually
normal
-o. -o.
C+F / cerebrospinal 0uid1 &M's / polymorphonucleocytes2
(3-ymphocytosis present " percent of the time2
)3&M's may predominate early in the course2
Blood agar
4lood agar plate 546&7
Contains mammalian blood 5usually sheep or horse7! typically
at a concentration of 89":2 46& are enriched! di%erential
media used to isolate fastidious organisms and detect
hemolytic activity2 ;,hemolytic activity .ill sho. lysis and
complete digestion of red blood cell contents surrounding
colony2 E<amples include Streptococcus haemolyticus2 =,
hemolysis .ill only partially lyse5the cells are either lysed or
not, it is the digestion that may be incomplete7 the
hemoglobin and .ill appear green2 6n e<ample of this .ould
be Streptococcus viridans2 >,hemolysis 5or non-hemolytic7 is
the term referring to a lac* of hemolytic activity2
Contains meat e<tract! tryptone! sodium chloride! and agar2
Chocolate agar 5C?OC7
6 type of blood agar plate in .hich the blood cells have been
lysed by heating the cells to 8@ AC2 Chocolate agar is used for
gro.ing fastidious 5fussy7 respiratory bacteria! such as
Haemophilus infuenzae2 'o chocolate is actually contained in
the plate1 it is named for the coloration only2
?orse 4lood 6gar! a type of microbiological culture media2
Thayer,Martin agar 5TM7
Chocolate agar designed to isolate Neisseria gonorrhoeae2
TC4+ agar
TC4+ 5thiosulfate citrate bile salts sucrose7,enriched agar
enhances gro.th of Vibrio spp2! including Vibrio cholerae
B8C
General bacterial media
Four types of agar plates demonstrating di%erential gro.th
depending on bacterial metabolism
4ile esculin agar 54E67
4E6 is used for the isolation of Enterococci as .ell as Droup E
Streptococci
C-EE agar 5Cysteine -actose Electrolyte EeFcient agar7
C-EE agar is used to isolate and di%erentiate urinary tract
bacteria! since it inhibits Proteus species s.arming and can
di%erentiate bet.een lactose fermenters and non,fermenters2
?e*toen enteric agar 5?E67
?E agar is designed to isolate and recover fecal bacteria
belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family2 ?E is particularly
useful in isolating Salmonella and Shigella2
-ysogeny 4roth 5-47
MacCon*ey agar 5M6C7
6 selective and di%erential media used to di%erentiate
bet.een Dram negative bacteria .hile inhibiting the gro.th of
Dram positive bacteria2 The addition of bile salts and crystal
violet to the agar inhibits the gro.th of most Dram positive
bacteria! ma*ing MacCon*ey agar selective2 -actose and
neutral red are added to di%erentiate the lactose fermenters!
.hich form pin* colonies! from lactose nonfermenters that
form clear colonies2 6n alternative media! eosin methylene
blue 5EM47 serves a similar purpose2
Mannitol salt agar 5M+67
M+6 is also a selective and di%erential media2 The mannitol
indicates organisms that ferment mannitolG mannitol
fermentation produces lactic acid! lo.ering the p? and turning
the plate yello.2 The salt is to select for halophiles1 organisms
that cannot .ithstand a high salt content .ill be unable to
gro. .ell2
Mueller,?inton agar 5M?67
M?6 contains beef infusion! peptone! and starch and is used
primarily for antibiotic susceptibility testing2 Ht can be in a
form of blood agar2
Fungi gro.ing in a<enic culture 5ascomycetes7
Aspergillus niger gro.ing in potato de<trose agar
'utrient agar
'utrient agar is usually used for gro.th of non,fastidious
organisms and observation of pigment production2 Ht is safe to
use in school science laboratories because it does not
selectively gro. pathogenic bacteria2
InJK agar
InJK agar allo.s more rapid bacteriological diagnosis as
Salmonella and Shigella colonies can be clearly and reliably
di%erentiated from other Enterobacteriaceae2 The yields of
Salmonella from stool samples obtained! .hen using this
medium! are higher than those obtained .ith -EHF+O' 6gar or
+almonella9+higella agar 5++672
&henylethyl alcohol agar 5&E67
&E6 selects for Staphylococcus species .hile inhibiting Dram,
negative bacilli 5e2g2 Escherichia coli! Shigella! Proteus! etc272
LM6 6gar 5LM67
6 non,speciFc agar that imitates the medium of .ater2 Used
for .ater analysis2
Tryptic 5Trypticase7 +oy 6gar 5T+67
T+6 is a general purpose media produced via enKymatic
digestion of soybean meal and casein2 T+6 is freNuently the
base media of other agar types1 for e<ample! blood agar
plates are made by enriching T+6 plates .ith blood 5see
above72
T+6 plates support gro.th of many semi,fastidious bacteria!
including some species of Brucella! orynebacterium! !isteria!
Neisseria! and Vibrio2
Oylose,-ysine,Eeo<ycholate agar 5O-E7
O-E is used for the culture of stool samples and contains t.o
indicators2 Ht is formulated to inhibit Dram,positive bacteria!
.hile the gro.th of Dram,negative bacilli is encouraged2 The
colonies of lactose fermenters appear yello.2
Ht is also used to culture possible Salmonella that may be
present in a food sample2 Most Salmonella colonies .ill
produce a blac* centre on O-E2
Cetrimide agar
Cetrimide agar is a type of agar used for the selective
isolation of the gram,negative bacteria! Pseudomonas
aeruginosa2
"insdale agar contains potassium tellurite! .hich can isolate
orynebacterium diphteriae2
Fungal media
+abouraud agar
+abouraud agar is used to culture fungi and has a lo. p? that
inhibits the gro.th of most bacteria1 it also contains the
antibiotic gentamicin to speciFcally inhibit the gro.th of
Dram,negative bacteria2
?ay infusion agar
+peciFc for the culturing of slime moulds 5.hich are not
fungi72
&otato de<trose agar
&E6 is used to culture certain types of fungi2
Malt e<tract agar
Malt e<tract agar has a high content of peptone and is acidic2
Ht is essentially used in the isolation of fungal microorganisms2
Moss media
Physcomitrella patens plants gro.ing a<enically on an agar plate
5&etri dish! P cm diameter7
Qnop agar
Qnop agar is used to culture a<enically protonema and .hole
moss plants! e2g2 those of Physcomitrella patens