Comparison of two selective media and a membrane filter technique for isolation of Campylobacter species from diarrhoeal stools.

Diarrhoeal stool specimens from 415 patients were examined for Campylobacter spp. by culture on charcoal cefoperazone deoxycholate agar (CCDA), Skirrow medium and Columbia blood agar overlaid with a 0.65 micron pore size membrane filter. Forty-eight Campylobacter strains were isolated from 45 (10.8%) specimens by all media; 44 were Campylobacter jejuni (91.7%), three were Campylobacter coli (6.3%) and one was Campylobacter hyointestinalis (2.0%). The percentages of Campylobacter-positive specimens isolated on Skirrow medium, CCDA and the membrane filter were 62, 82 and 95%, respectively. The recovery of more Campylobacter spp. from the same stool sample was achieved by the membrane filter method only. The highest isolation rate (100%) was observed when culture on CCDA and the membrane filter method were combined.