Pancreatic Digest Chocolate Blood Agar for the Isolation of the Gonococcus

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Abstract
Six freshly isolated cervical strains of the gonococcus were studied for their ability to grow in pancreatic digest broth and on pancreatic digest chocolate blood agar plates, pH 7.2. Prolific growth was obtained after 24 hrs. incubation at 37 C, whether incubated aerobically or in an atmosphere containing 10% CO2. In a total of 405 cervical cultures from patients suspected of having acute or chronic gonorrhea 153, or 37.7%, were positive. In a total of 175 cervical cultures from patients suspected of having acute gonorrhea and correlated with the pH of the cervical mucus at the time of culturing, 113, or 64.2%were positive. Of 129 taken during the estrogenic phases of the menstrual cycle 109, or 86%, were positive, whereas of 46% taken during the latter part of the progestational phase only 4, or 8.7% were positive. Negative cervical cultures do not indicate the absence of foci of infection or the lack of a sufficiently favorable medium upon which to isolate the organism. An important factor influencing negative cervical cultures from suspected cases of gonorrhea is the pH of the cervical mucus at the time of culturing.