“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
~Leonardo DaVinci
It is often believed that complexity and sophistication deliver an advantage in the crusade of rapid diagnostics.Yet, sometimes it is the simple, enduring ideas that provide a balance between rapid diagnosis and laboratory efficiency.
Rapid analytical equipment and automated machinery may come at a cost to comprehensive diagnostics and at a greater cost to the laboratory once shrinking budgets, maintenance, upgrades, training, troubleshooting, and space issues have been taken into account. There is also an opinion among many seasoned bench microbiologists that rapid and complex diagnostic methods contribute to a loss of practical experience in the laboratory. Thus, it is the responsibility and duty of modern in vitro diagnostic manufacturers to develop innovative and cost-effective solutions for the modern lab, while keeping pace with economic pressures, globalization, and the ever-present threat of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and pathogenic microorganisms.
First developed in the late 1970s, chromogenic culture media are now available in a variety of forms.
Consequently, chromogenic prepared culture media have fast become a leading tool in the rapid identification of microbes from a variety of sources. This form of microbiological growth media incorporates enzyme substrates used to exploit a specific biochemical reaction, thereby creating colored colonies used to identify specific microbes. Moreover, chromogenic culture media are often selective and differential and either limit the type of organism growth, or provide a means to distinguish the organism of interest from unwanted background flora. In the past fifteen years, this efficient screening method has developed into an increasingly sophisticated tool for use in clinical bacteriology, industrial microbiology, environmental monitoring, and food, dairy and water quality testing. Its significance rivals that of more expensive molecular, immunoassay, or other rapid detection methods, and its cost is more competitive.
Since 1970, the CDC has monitored healthcare-associated infections (HAI) using surveillance methods and voluntary reporting through a national system of sentinel hospitals. Ultimately, the purpose of this surveillance system is to contain and prevent the spread of pathogenic microorganisms in healthcare settings. Because of the tremendous economic and sociological impacts of organisms such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and other resistant or pathogenic bacteria in healthcare settings, an integrated approach to detection, control, and prevention has been standardized for patient and environmental monitoring. Consequently, chromogenic culture media provide an efficient means of detecting colonized patients or establishing and maintaining successful hygiene practices and contact precautions.
Additionally, with increasingly frequent news reports of deadly illness associated with food-borne pathogens, chromogenic-prepared culture media can be a useful means of monitoring food, environmental, and clinical samples associated with food-borne pathogens and disease. The Food and Drug Agency (FDA), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for the safety and security of the nation’s drug, vaccine, medical device, food, cosmetic, and dietary supplement supplies. Though the FDA steers clear of endorsing a specific chromogenic culture medium for use in identifying etiologic agents of food-borne illness, this simple mechanism of identification allows for more rapid detection and can reduce workload and turnaround time associated with pathogen confirmation and determining the source of contamination—critical factors in the struggle to combat disease.
“We’ve. . .asked how can we simplify this and make it more powerful at the same time.”
~Steve Jobs
First developed in the late 1970s, chromogenic culture media are now commercially available in a variety of forms. In 1996, Hardy Diagnostics became the first medical media manufacturer to introduce chromogenic prepared culture media to the United States. Since that time, Hardy has perfected this simplified method in its HardyCHROM™ lineup of products. In 2011 Hardy launched a new chromogenic culture medium for the primary screening of both Salmonella and Shigella species from stool.This development represents the first and only chromogenic culture medium for simultaneous rapid detection of Salmonella and Shigella species, while ruling out non-pathogenic enteric bacteria (both lactose and non-lactose-fermenting organisms) commonly present in stools, thereby reducing the need for secondary testing of isolates and the number of potential false positives. This new and unique chromogenic culture medium helps to increase laboratory efficiency and reduce the use of unnecessary media and additional bench time.
In the move to squeeze more and more testing into shrinking budgets, limited staff, and reduced resources, this is an example of a simple and powerful tool that can be put to rapid use in today’s laboratory.
Kerry Davies Pierce, MS, is Technical Support Specialist for California-based Hardy Diagnostics..
