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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2000, p. 1713-1716, Vol. 38, No. 5
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333
Received 8 December 1999/Returned for modification 24 January
2000/Accepted 10 February 2000
Antimicrobial resistance continues to increase worldwide among
isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae and other species of
streptococci. Increasing rates of penicillin resistance, particularly
in viridans group streptococci, and resistance to multiple classes of
antimicrobial agents, including
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Evaluation of the PASCO Strep Plus Broth Microdilution
Antimicrobial Susceptibility Panels for Testing Streptococcus
pneumoniae and Other Streptococcal Species
-lactams, macrolides, and
fluoroquinolones, in pneumococci have increased the importance of
having accurate antimicrobial susceptibility testing results for
guiding therapy. One commercial method of assessing resistance in
streptococci is the PASCO Strep Plus panel. This broth
microdilution-based method has recently been expanded to include a
variety of newer antimicrobial agents. Therefore, we compared the
results of the new PASCO Strep Plus panels for 26 antimicrobial agents
against the results generated using the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) broth microdilution reference method for
75 pneumococci and 68 other streptococcal isolates. Only 4 (0.2%) very
major errors (all with pneumococci and each with a different
antimicrobial agent) were observed. There were 5 (0.3%) major errors
observed with pneumococci (each with a different antimicrobial agent),
but only 1 major error with nonpneumococcal streptococci. All of the
very major and major errors resolved on retesting. Of the 65 (3.9%)
and 17 (1.6%) minor errors observed with pneumococci and other
streptococci, respectively, all were within 1 dilution of the broth
microdilution reference MIC result. Thus, the PASCO Strep Plus panel
has comparable accuracy to the NCCLS broth microdilution reference method.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Nosocomial
Pathogens Laboratory Branch (G08), Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-3246. Fax: (404) 639-1381. E-mail: fnt1{at}cdc.gov.
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