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Updated: Oct 4, 2026

Antimicrobial Characterization of Advanced Materials for Bioengineering Applications
08:08

Antimicrobial Characterization of Advanced Materials for Bioengineering Applications

Published on: August 4, 2018

Comparison and evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility testing of enterococci performed in accordance with six

G Cotter1, C C Adley

  • 1Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology
|September 28, 2001
PubMed

Insights

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for enterococci using disk diffusion methods showed variations. Laboratories may struggle to accurately identify enterococcal resistance, hindering reliable data comparison for surveillance.

Area of Science:

  • Clinical microbiology
  • Infectious diseases
  • Antimicrobial resistance

Background:

  • Enterococci are significant causes of hospital-acquired infections.
  • Accurate antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is crucial for guiding treatment decisions.
  • Disk diffusion is a common method for AST, but its performance can vary.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare antimicrobial susceptibility test results for enterococci using six different national committee disk diffusion procedures.
  • To identify variations in resistance category incidence and errors among these procedures.
  • To assess the reliability of disk diffusion for detecting enterococcal resistance.

Main Methods:

  • Evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility test results for enterococci.
  • Comparison of six national committee disk diffusion procedures.
  • Analysis of variations in resistance categories and errors for specific antimicrobial agents.

Main Results:

  • Significant variations were observed in resistance category incidence and errors across different disk diffusion procedures.
  • Specific agents like ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, nitrofurantoin, rifampin, and teicoplanin showed notable inconsistencies.
  • Problems in correctly identifying enterococcal resistance were associated with certain agents and procedures.

Conclusions:

  • Disk diffusion testing may present challenges for laboratories in accurately identifying enterococcal resistance.
  • Comparing enterococcal resistance data across different laboratories or surveillance programs may be difficult due to procedural variations.
  • Standardization of disk diffusion methods is needed to improve the reliability of AST for enterococci.

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