Live/dead bacteria count - without using fluorescence (Apr/01/2009 )

Hi,

Does anyone know how to do a live/dead bacteria count using microscopy? I am currently doing bacterial counts using a microscope but I can't separate between live and dead cells. I know there are lots of fluorescent live/dead stains but I don't want to use a fluorescent stain. Is there anything similar to trypan blue which is used for live/dead staining of mammalian cells that can be used for bacteria?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

You could probably read the optical density at 600nm and then plate.
It's a labor intensive and time consuming way.