AUTHOR=Levican Arturo , Varela Carmen , Porte Lorena , Weitzel Thomas , Briceño Isabel , Guerra Francisco , Mena Benjamín , Hinton Arthur 

TITLE=Head-to-head comparison of CAMPYAIR aerobic culture medium versus standard microaerophilic culture for Campylobacter isolation from clinical samples

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1153693

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2023.1153693

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=Campylobacter spp. is considered the most frequent causes of bacterial of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. However, outside high-income countries, its burden is poorly understood. Limited published data suggest that Campylobacter prevalence in low and middle income countries is high, but their reservoirs and age distribution are different. Culturing Campylobacter is expensive due to laboratory equipment and supplies needed to grow the bacterium (e.g. selective culture media, microaerophilic atmosphere, and 42°C incubator). These requirements limit the diagnostic capacity of clinical laboratories in many resource-poor regions, leading to significant underdiagnosis and underreporting of isolation of the pathogen. CAMPYAIR, a newly developed selective differential medium permits Campylobacter isolation without the need for microaerophilic incubation. The medium is supplemented with antibiotics, to allow Campylobacter isolation in a complex matrices such as human feces. The present  study aims to evaluate the ability of the medium to recover Campylobacter from routine clinical samples. A total of 191 human stool samples were used to compareon the ability of CAMPYAIR (aerobic incubation) and and a commercial Campylobacter medium (CASA, microaerophilic incubation) to recover Campylobacter. All Campylobacter isolates were then identified by MALDI-TOF MS. Findings indicated that CAMPYAIR showed sensitivity and specificity values of 87.5% (CI 95% 47.4–99.7%) and 100% (CI 95% 98–100%), respectively. Positive predictive value of CAMPYAIR was 100% and negative predictive value, 99.5% (CI95% 96.7–99.9%); Kappa Cohen coefficient was 0.93 (CI95% 0.79–1.0). The high diagnostic performance and low technical requirements of the CAMPYAIR medium could permit a broader  of Campylobacter culture in countries with limited resources.