[Comparison of API-10s and Minitek with conventional biochemical tests (author's transl)]

2 biochemical test-kits, API-10S and MINITEK, and conventional biochemical tests were used in parallel for testing 292 strains of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The same 10 biochemical tests were performed in all three systems. In addition the Voges-Proskauer reaction was tested in the conventional and the Minitek-system. The individual biochemical testreactions and diagnoses were compared. An overall average of tests indicated an agreement of 92.6% (Tab. 2). Urease-activity and citrate-utilisation showed the lowest agreement (70.5 and 74.3% respectively). 93.4% of the diagnose obtained with API- and 96.2% of those with MINITEK were identical to the diagnosis obtained by the conventional method. The Voges-Proskauer reaction was found to be more reliable for correct identification than the citrate-utilisation which - inspite of its very low agreement (Tab. 3) - has not influenced the diagnoses.