Recovery of Haemophilus influenzae from twenty-three blood culture media

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Abstract
H. influenzae is an important agent of bacteremia and has fastidious growth requirements. The ability of commercial blood culture media to support the growth of this fastidious microorganism was determined. Blood culture media (23 types) were inoculated with individual suspensions of 8 strains of H. influenzae in the presence or absence of an erythrocyte-serum mixture. The rates of recovery of the H. influenzae strains from the various types of blood culture media were compared. The type of medium, the manufacturer, the erythrocyte-serum mixture and the strain of H. influenzae influenced the recovery rates of H. influenzae. Optimal recovery of the strains of H. influenzae was obtained from brain heart infusion blood culture medium (GIBCO). Tryptic soy broth (GIBCO) and supplemental peptone of Becton, Dickinson and Company were superior to the remaining types of media tested for H. influenzae recovery.