Survival of leptospires in commercial blood culture systems revisited

Abstract

Aim - To assess the ability of commercial blood culture systems to maintain leptospires. Methods - Nine different commercial blood culture bottles were compared for their ability to maintain four leptospiral strains at Two temperatures, 30 °C and 37 °C. Bottles were subcultured at 48 hours, and one, two, three, and four week intervals and examined microscopically for the presence of viable leptospires. Results - The results were comparable with those of an earlier study, which showed that different commercial blood culture systems varied in their ability to maintain leptospires. Conclusions - No single factor appears to influence the viability of leptospires in blood culture systems. In general, the combination of an aerobic blood culture and an incubation temperature of 30 °C enhances the viability of leptospires, and hence would increase the chances of their subsequent isolation from suspected cases of leptospiraemia.