Assessment of the correctness of identification and determination of antimicrobial susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae in microbiological laboratories in Poland
The increase in bacterial resistance to antimicrobials is one of the most serious medical problems, therefore reliable identification in microbiological laboratories is important. The Polish National External Quality Assessment Scheme in Microbiological Diagnostics – POLMICRO programme is organized by the Centre of Quality Control in Microbiology (CQCM) enables the assessment of the competence of Polish microbiological laboratories in the field of identification, determination of susceptibility and detection of drug resistance mechanisms. This work presents the assessment of the results of identification and determination of S. pneumoniae antimicrobial susceptibility obtained by Polish laboratories during the 20 years of experience of the POLMICRO programme.