Susceptibility Testing in Microbiology

Susceptibility testing is a laboratory technique used to determine the effectiveness of antimicrobial agents against specific microorganisms.
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Infectious Diseases | Antibiotic Resistance | Clinical Microbiology | Antibiotic Sensitivity | Microbial Resistance | Culture Techniques
Prepared by Shruti Sahoo, reviewed by Dr. Eugene Smith

Susceptibility Testing FAQ


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Why is antimicrobial susceptibility testing important?

The performance of antimicrobial susceptibility testing by the clinical microbiology laboratory is important to confirm susceptibility to chosen empirical antimicrobial agents, or to detect resistance in individual bacterial isolates.

What is the importance of susceptibility testing?

Susceptibility testing of individual isolates is important with species that may possess acquired resistance mechanisms (eg, members of the Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas species, Staphylococcus species, Enterococcus species, and Streptococcus pneumoniae ). Broth dilution tests.

What is in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing?

Through the use of in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing, the laboratory can specifically determine which antibiotics effectively inhibit the growth of a given bacterial isolate, allowing for targeted therapy.

What is a CLSI susceptibility test?

The CLSI susceptibility testing document [ 13] lists groups of some antimicrobial agents with nearly identical activities that can provide practical alternatives for testing. The results of a susceptibility test must be interpreted by the laboratory prior to communicating a report to a patient's physician.

What is a susceptibility test?

Susceptibility testing is performed on bacteria or fungi causing an individual’s infection after they have been recovered in a culture of the specimen. Testing is used to determine the potential effectiveness of specific antibiotics on the bacteria and/or to determine if the bacteria have developed resistance to certain antibiotics.

Why is rapid susceptibility testing important?

Two studies [ 17, 18] have shown that providing rapid susceptibility test results can lead to more timely changes to appropriate antimicrobial therapy, substantial direct cost savings attributable to ordering of fewer additional laboratory tests, performance of fewer invasive procedures, and a shortened length of stay.

What are the specimen requirements for routine susceptibility testing?

Specimen requirements for routine susceptibility testing using the disk diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method are similar to the guidelines for collecting samples for bacterial culture since a certain number of well-isolated colonies (usually 3 to 5) grown from a culture is necessary to prepare a suspension of inoculum.

Susceptibility Testing References

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What are the key technologies used in antimicrobial susceptibility testing?

Delve into the various technologies such as automated systems, disk diffusion, and gradient diffusion used in antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Share the advantages, limitations, and future prospects of these technologies in predicting effective antibiotic treatments.