
The Library
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing in European hospitals : report from the ARPAC study
Tools
MacKenzie, F. M., Bruce, J. (Julie), Van Looveren, M., Cornaglia, G., Gould, I. M. and Goossens, H. (2006) Antimicrobial susceptibility testing in European hospitals : report from the ARPAC study. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 12 (12). pp. 1185-1192. doi:10.1111/j.1469-0691.2006.01549.x ISSN 1198-743X.
An open access version can be found in:
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-0691.2006.01549.x
Abstract
This observational study describes the antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) methods and interpretive criteria used in European hospitals during 2001, focusing specifically on detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Of 263 hospitals that took part in the ARPAC study, 192 submitted data on AST. Of these, 89% (n = 170) routinely used a disk-diffusion AST method, 43% (n = 82) used a semi-automated method, and 70% (n = 135) routinely determined MICs. Hospitals in southern Europe were less likely to use disk-diffusion, but were more likely to use a semi-automated method (p < 0.001). In total, 173 (90%) interpreted AST results using CLSI breakpoints; 30% of these detected MRSA using unmodified CLSI disk-diffusion methods, while 35% used the unmodified CLSI agar-screening method for MRSA; 41% and 30% adhered to unmodified CLSI methodology for disk-diffusion and agar-screening, respectively, to detect VRE. Some of the modifications made may have greatly reduced the ability of the tests to detect MRSA/ VRE. For example, 20% of respondents used excessively high incubation temperatures and 13% used inadequate incubation times to detect MRSA by disk-diffusion, and 28% used Mueller-Hinton agar instead of brain-heart infusion agar in VRE screening plates. The majority of respondents stated that they followed CLSI guidelines, but a high proportion had modified the CLSI methods for detecting MRSA and VRE, which may compromise clinical management and antimicrobial resistance surveillance. © 2006 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) | ||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Clinical Trials Unit Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Clinical Microbiology and Infection | ||||||
Publisher: | Elsevier | ||||||
ISSN: | 1198-743X | ||||||
Official Date: | December 2006 | ||||||
Dates: |
|
||||||
Volume: | 12 | ||||||
Number: | 12 | ||||||
Page Range: | pp. 1185-1192 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2006.01549.x | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
Funder: | European Commission (EC), European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) | ||||||
Grant number: | QLK2-2001-00915 | ||||||
Open Access Version: |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
![]() |
View Item |