Evaluation of a metronidazole disk test for the presumptive identification of anaerobes

A total of 632 bacterial strains recovered under anaerobic conditions from clinical specimens were tested from their susceptibility to metronidazole by a disk diffusion test using 5 micrograms metronidazole disks. Three-hundred-fifty-five of the 632 bacterial strains exhibited susceptibility the metronidazole, and each was determined to be an obligate anaerobe. The remaining 277 isolates showed resistance to the 5 micrograms disk. Of these resistant strains, 257 were determined to be facultative anaerobes, while 20 (18 Propionibacterium acnes, one Peptostreptococcus sp., and one Peptococcus magnus) were identified as obligate anaerobes. Potential use of this disk diffusion test for identifying the anaerobic status of bacteria is discussed.