Background: Helicobacter pylori susceptibility to clarithromycin and fluoroquinolone can be determined through Etest or molecular assays. We examined the correlation between phenotypic susceptibility (MIC results) and genotypic susceptibility in H. pylori strains isolated from gastric biopsies. Results: Out of 85 duplicate biopsies obtained from patients from northern Israel who underwent endos...

OBJECTIVES In vitro susceptibility testing of 31 Bartonella spp. strains including 21 Bartonella henselae isolates was performed for 17 antimicrobial agents (telithromycin, four macrolides, five fluoroquinolones, five aminoglycosides, doxycycline and rifampicin). METHODS MICs were determined by agar dilution and Etest using chocolate agar containing 5% defibrinated sheep blood as assay medium...

The study relates to the theory of diffusion methods for antibiotic sensitivity testing. The aim of the study was to show the relationship between the antibiotic critical concentration (Cc) and its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The results contribute to the explanation of the Etest's reliability and support the scientific basis for MIC determination using agar diffusion methods. Susce...

BACKGROUND Antimicrobial-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a major public health threat. Current CDC treatment guidelines for uncomplicated gonorrhoea recommend only ceftriaxone plus either azithromycin or doxycycline. Additional treatment options are needed. METHODS We used antibiotic gradient synergy testing (the Etest) to evaluate antimicrobial combinations that included a third-generatio...

Daptomycin is a novel cyclic lipopeptide that is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections associated with Staphylococcus aureus and other gram-positive pathogens and also staphylococcal bacteremia, including right-sided endocarditis. The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) established "susceptible-only" ...

background & objectives: pseudomonas aeruginosais one of the most important causes of nosocomial infections particularly in immunodeficient patients. several antibiotics such as betalactams, aminoglycosides and quinolones are used for the treatment of infections caused by this organism, but the prevalence of multidrug resistant strains has been reported frequently. beta lactamase production is ...

TO THE EDITOR—In a recent review and meta-analysis published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, van Hal and colleagues evaluated vancomycin treatment outcomes for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) relative to vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) [1]. The authors suggest that laboratories specifically consider performing vancomycin MICs by Etest when MRSA are isolat...

Recent studies have questioned treatment of serious methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections with vancomycin because of treatment failures, despite vancomycin MICs in the susceptible category (MIC 2 g/ml) (2, 3, 5, 6, 7). Some of these studies have used broth microdilution for determining vancomycin MICs (5), while others have used the Etest commercial product (AB Biodisk, S...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates (n = 3,189) from 2,990 patients were investigated by agar screening and by the Etest macromethod for reduced susceptibility to glycopeptide. No vancomycin-resistant S. aureus or glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus (GISA) isolates were detected, but 178 isolates were confirmed as hetero-GISA (hGISA) by vancomycin population analysis pro...

BACKGROUND Yeasts are a common cause of invasive fungal infections in critically ill patients. Antifungal susceptibility testing results of clinically significant fungal strains are of interest to physicians, enabling them to adopt appropriate strategies for empiric and prophylactic therapies. We investigated the antifungal susceptibility of yeasts isolated over a 2-year period from hospitalise...