Multiple morphotypes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from 50 respiratory specimens of cystic fibrosis patients were tested for correlation of broth microdilution susceptibility results of a mixed-morphotype inoculum with a predicted antibiogram of the individual isolates. The overall correlation was 96.0%, with only 1.6% very major or major errors.

The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing can be considered the major international contributors to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In this review, the author considers the differences between the respective organisations, examines the terminology used in antimicrobial susceptibility testing and argues for an urgent ...

The landscape of diagnostic testing for tuberculosis (TB) is changing rapidly, and stakeholders need urgent guidance on how to develop, deploy and optimize TB diagnostics in a way that maximizes impact and makes best use of available resources. When decisions must be made with only incomplete or preliminary data available, modelling is a useful tool for providing such guidance. Following a meet...

We evaluated three commercial colistin susceptibility testing methods using 213 bloodstream Acinetobacter isolates identified by gene sequencing. Compared to the agar dilution reference method, excellent categorical agreements (both 99.1%) were observed using Vitek 2 and Etest, compared to 87.3% (95.7% for Acinetobacter baumannii and 80.7% for non-baumannii Acinetobacter isolates) using MicroScan.

A modified Bauer-Kirby-Sherris-Turck method for disc susceptibility testing of anaerobic bacteria is presented. When tetracycline was used against 100 strains of Bacteroides fragilis as a model, reasonably reproducible results were obtained after overnight incubation in both the GasPak atmosphere and an atmosphere achieved by adding 10% CO(2) to a mixture of 10% H(2) and 90% N(2). The minimal i...

The VITEK 2 (bioMérieux, Marcy L'Etoile, France) and the Phoenix systems (BD Diagnostic Systems, Sparks, Md.) are automated instruments for rapid organism identification and susceptibility testing. We evaluated the workflow, the time to result, and the performance of identification and susceptibility testing of both instruments. A total of 307 fresh clinical isolates were tested: 141 Enterobact...

INTRODUCTION Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is key in modern clinical microbiology. With pandemic emergence of (multi-)antibiotic resistance, methods to detect and quantify resistance of clinically important bacterial species are imperative. Historically, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) was mostly performed using methods relying on bacterial growth. Such methods may be time-con...

Metabolism in microbial colonies responds to competing species, rapidly evolving genetic makeup, and sometimes dramatic environmental changes. Conventional characterization of the existing and emerging microbial strains and their interactions with antimicrobial agents, e.g., the Kirby-Bauer susceptibility test, relies on time consuming methods with limited ability to discern the molecular mecha...