The laboratory diagnosis of whooping cough by fluorescent antibody and by culture methods.

Attempts were made to hasten the identification of Bordetella pertussis by using the fluorescent antibody (FA) technique and to improve the isolation rate by culture methods. First, a comparison was made between the number of identifications of the organism by growth on Bordet-Gengou medium containing penicillin G and by staining smears of pharyngeal exudate with FA. Of 100 specimens, 29 were positive on culture and 46 were positive by the FA method. Five of the 46 were false positives. Second, 170 specimens were inoculated in quadruplicate on Bordet-Gengou medium containing either penicillin G or methicillin, and on Lacey medium containing either penicillin G or methicillin. In order there were 39, 41, 56 and 57 isolations. The isolation of Bord. pertussis on methicillin-containing media was easier than on penicillin-containing media. When culture and FA methods were compared, the most reliable was found to be the inoculation of specimens on Lacey medium.