The mother of a 9-year-old who is in the same school as another child just diagnosed with meningitis (even though the child did not know nor had any direct contact with the infected child) called the pediatrician, demanding her son be prophylactically treated. The physician suggests vaccinating the boy, doing surveillance cultures, and watching the child for symptoms. The medium that the lab will use has antibiotics in it and therefore is called a(n)

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A selective medium permits growth in the presence of agents that inhibit other bacteria, in this case the normal oropharyngeal flora. A minimal medium contains the minimum quantity and number of nutrients capable of sustaining growth of the organism. A differential medium differentiates among organisms on the basis of color due to different fermentation or pH. Although you are inhibiting some bacteria, this name is not used as you are setting conditions to selectively grow the Neisseria.

The Mother of a 9-Year-Old Who Is in the Same