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

<jats:p><jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic> spp. are considered the most frequent cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. However, outside high-income countries, its burden is poorly understood. Limited published data suggest that <jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic> prevalence in low- and middle-income countries is high, but their reservoirs and age distribution are different. Culturing <jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic> is expensive due to laboratory equipment and supplies needed to grow the bacterium (e.g., selective culture media, microaerophilic atmosphere, and a 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 <jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic> isolation without the need for microaerophilic incubation. The medium is supplemented with antibiotics to allow <jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic> isolation in complex matrices such as human feces. The present study aims to evaluate the ability of the medium to recover <jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic> from routine clinical samples. A total of 191 human stool samples were used to compare the ability of CAMPYAIR (aerobic incubation) and a commercial <jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic> medium (CASA, microaerophilic incubation) to recover <jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic>. All <jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic> isolates were then identified by MALDI-TOF MS. CAMPYAIR showed sensitivity and specificity values of 87.5% (95% CI 47.4%–99.7%) and 100% (95% CI 98%–100%), respectively. The positive predictive value of CAMPYAIR was 100% and its negative predictive value was 99.5% (95% CI 96.7%–99.9%); Kappa Cohen coefficient was 0.93 (95% CI 0.79–1.0). The high diagnostic performance and low technical requirements of the CAMPYAIR medium could permit <jats:italic>Campylobacter</jats:italic> culture in countries with limited resources.</jats:p>

Levican, A., Varela, C., Porte, L., Weitzel, T., Briceño, I., Guerra, F., Mena, B., & Hinton, A. (2023). Head-to-head comparison of CAMPYAIR aerobic culture medium versus standard microaerophilic culture for Campylobacter isolation from clinical samples. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 13, 1153693. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1153693