The use of paraffin bait technique in the isolation of
Nocardia asteroides has been tested in 241 samples of sputa obtained from 235 cases of respiratory diseases.
N. asteroides was recovered on 6 occasions from sputum of a patient using the paraffin bait technique. On the other hand cultures of sputa from the same patient on routine agar media such as Sabouraud's agar and Lowenstein Jensen medium yielded only one isolated of the pathogen.
This work forms a part of the Ph. D. thesis of P.V.K. submitted to the University of Delhi.