Paper I
2024 March (Supplementary) (2010 Scheme) · 40 marks · 120 min

Question

Transport media with TWO examples

Q62 marksShort Notes

Answer

Transport media preserve the viability of pathogens in a clinical specimen during transit from the point of collection to the laboratory, without allowing multiplication or overgrowth of contaminating flora, while preventing fastidious/fragile pathogens from dying before culture.

Two examples:

  1. Cary-Blair medium — the most widely used general-purpose transport medium for enteric bacterial pathogens (Vibrio cholerae, Shigella, Salmonella) in stool specimens.
  2. Stuart’s/Amies transport medium — semisolid, non-nutritive media for swabs (throat, wound, genital) intended for general bacterial culture, including Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Amies medium additionally contains charcoal to absorb toxic/inhibitory substances.

(Other valid examples: Venkatraman-Ramakrishnan medium for Vibrio cholerae; viral transport medium for viral specimens.)

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