Method of testing antibiotic sensitivity of spirochaetes, using antibiotic discs.

A rapid method of evaluating the susceptibility of spirochaetes to antibiotics would be convenient for investigators. Schneierson (1954) described a method of testing the susceptibility of strains of potentially pathogenic species, in which discs containing standard amounts of antibiotics were dropped into broth, and the broth was inoculated with the organism under study. He found that the results compared favourably with those of the tube-dilution method. Antibiotic concentrations were determined by dividing the disc concentration by the volume of the broth. The purpose of this investigation was to develop a rapid method for determining the susceptibility of representative strains of treponemes using antibiotic discs.