A total of 452 sputum secimens from street had been collected in the areas of Daegu city, and tested for the isolation of mycobacteria.
Sputa were treated with 4% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution for 20 minutes and inoculated onto 3% acid-buffered Ogawa medium, and incubated at 37℃ for a period of eight weeks.
Tests employed for the identification of the mycobacterial strains isolated were; 1) growth rate and temperature, 2) staining property, 3) colonial morphology, 4) pigmentation, 5) growth on 500㎍ p-nitrobenzoic acid, 6) niacin production, 7) 5% NaCl tolerance, 8) growth on 5㎍ ethambutal (EB), 9) nitrate reduction, and 10) catalase activity pH7.0/68℃ for 20 minutes.
Since tuberculosis still remains as a serious health problem in Korea, the isolation of M. tuberculosis from the street sputa, though it showed the recovery rate of only 1.7% out of the total tested, brings to a particular public attention on health education.
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