scholarly journals Evaluation of the Dade MicroScan MICroSTREP Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Panel with Selected Streptococcus pneumoniae Challenge Strains and Recent Clinical Isolates

1998 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 788-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Jorgensen ◽  
M. L. McElmeel ◽  
S. A. Crawford

The MicroScan MICroSTREP panel is a recently marketed frozen broth microdilution panel for susceptibility testing of various streptococci, including Streptococcus pneumoniae. The panel contains 10 antimicrobial agents in cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth supplemented with 3% lysed horse blood, similar in concept to the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) reference broth microdilution method for testing streptococci. A group of 210 isolates of S. pneumoniae were selected to include isolates with previously documented resistance to agents incorporated in the MICroSTREP panel, as well as recent invasive clinical isolates. All isolates were tested simultaneously with the MICroSTREP panel and an NCCLS reference panel whose drug concentrations were prepared to coincide with those of the MICroSTREP panel. Of the 210 isolates, 5 failed to grow in the MICroSTREP panel; 3 of those also did not grow in the reference panel. Essential agreement of MICs determined by the two methods (test MIC ± one dilution of the reference MIC) was 99.6% overall and ranged from 98.0% with chloramphenicol to 100% with penicillin, ceftriaxone, erythromycin, tetracycline, and vancomycin. There were no very major or major interpretive category errors resulting from the MICroSTREP panel tests. Minor interpretive category errors ranged from 12.2% with cefotaxime and 9.8% with ceftriaxone (due mainly to clustering of MICs for the selected strains near the breakpoints) to 0% with chloramphenicol and vancomycin. These results indicate that the MicroScan MICroSTREP frozen panels provide susceptibility results with pneumococci that are essentially equivalent to results derived by the NCCLS reference broth microdilution procedure.

2000 ◽  
Vol 38 (8) ◽  
pp. 2814-2818 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Jorgensen ◽  
Arthur L. Barry ◽  
M. M. Traczewski ◽  
Daniel F. Sahm ◽  
M. Leticia McElmeel ◽  
...  

The VITEK 2 is a new automated instrument for rapid organism identification and susceptibility testing. It has the capability of performing rapid susceptibility testing of Streptococcus pneumoniae with specially configured cards that contain enriched growth medium and antimicrobial agents relevant for this organism. The present study compared the results of testing of a group of 53 challenge strains of pneumococci with known resistance properties and a collection of clinical isolates examined in two study phases with a total of 402 and 416 isolates, respectively, with a prototype of the VITEK 2. Testing was conducted in three geographically separate laboratories; the challenge collection was tested by all three laboratories, and the unique clinical isolates were tested separately by the individual laboratories. The VITEK 2 results of tests with 10 antimicrobial agents were compared to the results generated by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards reference broth microdilution MIC test method. Excellent interlaboratory agreement was observed with the challenge strains. The overall agreement within a single twofold dilution of MICs defined by the VITEK 2 and reference method with the clinical isolates was 96.3%, although there were a number of off-scale MICs that could not be compared. The best agreement with the clinical isolates was achieved with ofloxacin and chloramphenicol (100%), and the lowest level of agreement among those drugs with sufficient on-scale MICs occurred with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (89.7%). Overall there were 1.3% very major, 6.6% minor, and no major interpretive category errors encountered with the clinical isolates, although >80% of the minor interpretive errors involved only a single log2 dilution difference. The mean time for generation of susceptibility results with the clinical isolates was 8.1 h. The VITEK 2 provided rapid, reliable susceptibility category determinations with both the challenge and clinical isolates examined in this study.


1999 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary V. Doern ◽  
Angela B. Brueggemann ◽  
Michael A. Pfaller ◽  
Ronald N. Jones

Abstract Objective.—To assess the performance of clinical microbiology laboratories in the United States when conducting in vitro susceptibility tests with Streptococcus pneumoniae. Methods.—The results of a nationwide College of American Pathologists Proficiency Survey test sample, in which susceptibility testing of an isolate of S pneumoniae was performed, were assessed with respect to precision and accuracy. Results.—Wide variability was noted among participating laboratories with both minimum inhibitory concentration procedures and disk diffusion susceptibility tests when both methods were applied to S pneumoniae. Despite this high degree of variation, categorical interpretive errors were uncommon. Numerous laboratories reported results for antimicrobial agents that are not recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards for tests with S pneumoniae. Conclusions.—Current susceptibility testing practices with S pneumoniae in the United States indicate limited precision and a tendency for laboratories to test and report results obtained with antimicrobial agents of questionable therapeutic value against this organism. Continued efforts to standardize susceptibility testing of S pneumoniae in the United States are warranted. In addition, modifications of existing interpretive criteria may be necessary.


2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 2398-2403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mokhlasur Rahman ◽  
Inger Kühn ◽  
Motiur Rahman ◽  
Barbro Olsson-Liljequist ◽  
Roland Möllby

ABSTRACT We describe the ScanMIC method, a colorimetric MIC method for susceptibility testing of gram-negative fermentative bacteria. The method is a slight modification of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) recommended broth microdilution method that uses a redox indicator 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) to enhance the estimate of bacterial growth inhibition in a microplate and a flatbed scanner to capture the microplate image. In-house software was developed to transform the microplate image into numerical values based on the amount of bacterial growth and to generate the MICs automatically. The choice of indicator was based on its low toxicity and ease of reading by scanner. We compared the ScanMIC method to the NCCLS recommended broth microdilution method with 197 coliform strains against seven antibacterial agents. The interpretative categorical agreement was obtained in 92.4% of the assays, and the agreement for MIC differences (within ±1 log2 dilution) was obtained in 96% for ScanMIC versus broth microdilution and 97% for a two-step incubation colorimetric broth microdilution versus the broth microdilution method. The method was found to be labor-saving, not to require any initial investment, and to show reliable results. Thus, the ScanMIC method could be useful for epidemiological surveys that include susceptibility testing of bacteria.


2000 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 1713-1716 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Jasmine Mohammed ◽  
Fred C. Tenover

Antimicrobial resistance continues to increase worldwide among isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae and other species of streptococci. Increasing rates of penicillin resistance, particularly in viridans group streptococci, and resistance to multiple classes of antimicrobial agents, including β-lactams, macrolides, and fluoroquinolones, in pneumococci have increased the importance of having accurate antimicrobial susceptibility testing results for guiding therapy. One commercial method of assessing resistance in streptococci is the PASCO Strep Plus panel. This broth microdilution-based method has recently been expanded to include a variety of newer antimicrobial agents. Therefore, we compared the results of the new PASCO Strep Plus panels for 26 antimicrobial agents against the results generated using the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) broth microdilution reference method for 75 pneumococci and 68 other streptococcal isolates. Only 4 (0.2%) very major errors (all with pneumococci and each with a different antimicrobial agent) were observed. There were 5 (0.3%) major errors observed with pneumococci (each with a different antimicrobial agent), but only 1 major error with nonpneumococcal streptococci. All of the very major and major errors resolved on retesting. Of the 65 (3.9%) and 17 (1.6%) minor errors observed with pneumococci and other streptococci, respectively, all were within 1 dilution of the broth microdilution reference MIC result. Thus, the PASCO Strep Plus panel has comparable accuracy to the NCCLS broth microdilution reference method.


1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 871-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Dannaoui ◽  
Florence Persat ◽  
Marie-France Monier ◽  
Elisabeth Borel ◽  
Marie-Antoinette Piens ◽  
...  

A comparative study of visual and spectrophotometric MIC endpoint determinations for antifungal susceptibility testing of Aspergillus species was performed. A broth microdilution method adapted from the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) was used for susceptibility testing of 180 clinical isolates of Aspergillus species against amphotericin B and itraconazole. MICs were determined visually and spectrophotometrically at 490 nm after 24, 48, and 72h of incubation, and MIC pairs were compared. The agreement between the two methods was 99% for amphotericin B and ranged from 95 to 98% for itraconazole. It is concluded that spectrophotometric MIC endpoint determination is a valuable alternative to the visual reference method for susceptibility testing of Aspergillus species.Key words: antifungal, susceptibility testing, Aspergillus, spectrophotometric reading.


2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 226-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Barchiesi ◽  
Daniela Arzeni ◽  
Annette W. Fothergill ◽  
Luigi Falconi Di Francesco ◽  
Francesca Caselli ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT A broth microdilution method performed in accordance with the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards guidelines was used to compare the in vitro activity of the new antifungal triazole SCH 56592 (SCH) to that of fluconazole (FLC), itraconazole (ITC), and ketoconazole (KETO) against 257 clinical yeast isolates. They included 220 isolates belonging to 12 different species of Candida, 15 isolates each of Cryptococcus neoformans andSaccharomyces cerevisiae, and seven isolates ofRhodotorula rubra. The MICs of SCH at which 50% (MIC50) and 90% (MIC90) of the isolates were inhibited were 0.06 and 2.0 μg/ml, respectively. In general, SCH was considerably more active than FLC (MIC50 and MIC90 of 1.0 and 64 μg/ml, respectively) and slightly more active than either ITC (MIC50 and MIC90 of 0.25 and 2.0 μg/ml, respectively) and KETO (MIC50 and MIC90 of 0.125 and 4.0 μg/ml, respectively). Our in vitro data suggest that SCH has significant potential for clinical development.


1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
E L Fasola ◽  
S Bajaksouzian ◽  
P C Appelbaum ◽  
M R Jacobs

Susceptibilities of 124 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae to erythromycin and clindamycin were determined by the National Committee for the Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) broth microdilution method, with incubation for 20 to 24 h in ambient air and with modifications of this method by incubation for up to 48 h in air and CO2. Strains were also tested by agar dilution, E-test, and disk diffusion; good correlation was obtained with these methods, with clear separation into bimodal populations of susceptible and resistant stains. The broth microdilution method, however, using incubation in air for 24 h (NCCLS method), misclassified 4 of 92 erythromycin-resistant strains (1 as susceptible and 3 as intermediate) and 25 of 58 clindamycin-resistant strains (all as susceptible). With the exception of one strain with clindamycin, susceptible and resistant strains were correctly classified by the microdilution method with incubation in CO2 for 24 h or in ambient air for 48 h. Disk diffusion, agar dilution, and E-test methods with incubation in 5% CO2 are therefore reliable methods for susceptibility testing of pneumococci against these agents. However, the NCCLS microdilution method, which specifies incubation for 20 to 24 h in ambient air, produced significant very major errors (43%) clindamycin. Modification of the microdilution method by incubation in 5% CO2 or by extension of incubation time in ambient air to 48 h corrected these errors. Disk diffusion, however, was shown to be a simple, convenient, and reliable method for susceptibility testing of pneumococci to erythromycin and clindamycin and is suggested as the method of choice for these agents.


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