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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 1998, p. 179-183, Vol. 36, No. 1
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Determination of Penicillin MICs for Streptococcus pneumoniae by Using a Two- or Three-Disk Diffusion Procedure

Michael R. Jacobs,1,* Saralee Bajaksouzian,1 Elizabeth L. Palavecino-Fasola,1 Henry M. Holoszyc,2 and Peter C. Appelbaum3

Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, and University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio 441061; Giles Scientific, Inc., New York, New York 100112; and Department of Pathology, Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania 170333

Received 26 June 1997/Returned for modification 4 August 1997/Accepted 16 October 1997

The potential for the use of the disk diffusion method to accurately predict penicillin MICs for Streptococcus pneumoniae was investigated with penicillin (6 µg), methicillin (5 µg), and oxacillin (1 µg) disks. A total of 183 S. pneumoniae isolates were tested by three MIC procedures (agar dilution, microdilution, and E-test). Regression analyses of the geometric mean of the three MIC results against (i) the sum of the zone diameters for methicillin, penicillin, and oxacillin disks; (ii) the sum of the zone diameters for methicillin and penicillin disks; and (iii) each of the three individual zone diameters were performed. Calculated MICs were determined from each of these regression analyses and compared to the mean reference MICs. A high level of correlation was obtained with both the two- and the three-disk procedures (r = 0.97), with essential agreement rates (±1 doubling dilution) between MICs calculated by the three-disk procedure and the two-disk procedure and the mean reference MICs of 98.4 and 98.9%, respectively. No major or very major errors were obtained with the two- or three-disk procedures. The accuracy of the disks used individually was lower (r = 0.84 to 0.93). However, oxacillin and methicillin disk testing remain excellent for screening strains, with all penicillin-susceptible strains having zones of >21 and >22 mm, respectively. The combination disk procedure, which involves the use of three disks (methicillin, oxacillin, and penicillin) or two disks (methicillin and penicillin) for testing S. pneumoniae, can provide accurate penicillin MICs and qualitative category results that are comparable to results obtained by the E-test, agar, and microdilution MIC methods.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology, University Hospitals of Cleveland, 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106. Phone: (216) 844-3484. Fax: (216) 844-5601.


Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 1998, p. 179-183, Vol. 36, No. 1
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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