[Comparative study of bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics with the "abac" automatic system and the agar diffusion...

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Clinical Diagnostics
• Bacteriology

Background:

• Accurate antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is crucial for guiding effective antibiotic therapy.
• Standardized methods like Bauer-Kirby are essential for reliable AST results.
• Evaluating automated systems against established methods is vital for clinical adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the performance of the abac automated system with the standard disk diffusion method for bacterial AST.
• To identify any significant discrepancies in antimicrobial susceptibility results between the two methods.
• To assess the efficiency and convenience of the abac system in routine laboratory settings.

Main Methods:

• Tested 654 bacterial strains from diverse biological sources.
• Utilized the abac automated system for AST.
• Employed the Bauer-Kirby standardized disk diffusion method as a reference.
• Analyzed discrepancies between the two testing methodologies.

Main Results:

• The abac system demonstrated increased efficiency and convenience.
• Higher discrepancies were observed with the antibiotic Co-trimoxazole.
• Other non-significant discrepancies were noted and presented.
• Overall improvement in the quality of routine AST results was achieved with the abac system.

Conclusions:

• The abac automated system is a valuable tool for improving routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
• While generally reliable, careful consideration of specific antibiotics like Co-trimoxazole is warranted.
• The abac system enhances laboratory efficiency and convenience, contributing to better patient care through improved diagnostic accuracy.