An update on antibiotic susceptibility testing

Head of Microbiology at Dick White Referrals, Jade Denham summarises current antibiotic resistance testing methods.

“Antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) is one of the key elements of microbiology, and can have great consequences on the choice of antimicrobial used. After an isolate has been identified, AST should be performed to confirm susceptibility to the chosen empirical antimicrobial agent, and to detect acquired resistance in individual isolates. Once susceptibility patterns have been determined, a clear clinical treatment plan can be developed.”

KEY POINTS

• The most frequently used industry methods are Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion and the VITEK systems

• All methods are governed by international and/or European standards: the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST)

• CLSI has veterinary guidelines (CLSI Vet), whereas EUCAST currently has a subcommittee, “VETCAST”, which has not yet published veterinary guidelines

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