Comparative evaluation of Enterosystem 18 R and API 20 E compared with the automatic system VITEK for the identification of the members of the Enterobacteriaceae Family

126 bacterial strains belonging to the members of the Enterobacteriaceae Family (15 species) were used to test a new system for the identification of these germs, the Enterosystem 18 R (ENT 18 R), in confrontation with the system API 20 E comparatively with the system VITEK 30 jr. considered as reference element. Both systems (ENT 18 R and API 20 E) correctly identified all the strains belonging to the genera Citrobacter, Hafnia, Morganella, Salmonella and Shigella. Discordance at the level of species was evidenced for the genera Enterobacter, Klebsiella and Serratia. The highest concordance at the level of species was shown by ENT 18 R for: Citrobacter freudii, Hafnia alvei, Morganella morganii, Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella spp. and Shighella sonnei, E.coli, Proteus penneri and Serratia liquefaciens. The concordance percentages by the system API 20 E, in relation to the genus, were 89.7% (90.5% for ENT 18 R) and in relation to species were 79.3% (85.7% for ENT 18 R). Although the experimentation's limits, the Enterosystem 18 R shew, like API 20 E, characteristics of accuracy, sensitivity and reproducibility that set it as a valid identification support for Enterobacteriaceae in the clinical bacteriology laboratory.