Search Results

Clinical-microbiological investigations are an important aspect of the crew health stabilization program. To ensure that space crews have neither active nor latent infections, clinical specimens, including throat and nasal swabs and urine samples, are collected at 10 days (L-10) and 2 days (L-2) before launch, and immediately after landing (L+0). All samples are examined for the presence of bacteria and fungi. In addition, fecal samples are collected at L-10 and examined for bacteria, fungi and parasites. This paper describes clinical-microbiological findings from 144 astronauts participating in 25 Space Shuttle missions spanning STS-26 to STS-50. The spectrum of microbiological findings from the specimens included 25 bacterial and 11 fungal species. Among the bacteria isolated most frequently were Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Streptococcus agalactiae.

Reference cultures of 16 microorganisms obtained from the American Type Culture Collection and four clinical isolates were used in standardized solutions to inoculate 60 cards for each test strain. A set of three ID and three susceptibility cards was processed in the Vitek AutoMicrobic System (AMS) immediately after inoculation. The remaining cards were refrigerated at 4°C, and sets of six cards were removed and processed periodically for up to 17 days. The preinoculated AMS cards were evaluated for microorganism identification, percent probability of correct identification, length of time required for final result, individual substrate reactions, and antibiotic minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values. Results indicate that 11 of the 20 microbes tested withstood refrigerated storage up to 17 days without detectable changes in delineating characteristics. MIC results appear variable, but certain antibiotics proved to be more stable than others.