This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by de Cueto, M.
Right arrow Articles by Pascual, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by de Cueto, M.
Right arrow Articles by Pascual, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2004, p. 3734-3738, Vol. 42, No. 8
0095-1137/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.42.8.3734-3738.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Use of Positive Blood Cultures for Direct Identification and Susceptibility Testing with the Vitek 2 System

Marina de Cueto,* Esther Ceballos, Luis Martinez-Martinez, Evelio J. Perea, and Alvaro Pascual

Microbiology Department, Hospital Virgen Macarena, Seville, Spain

Received 7 October 2003/ Returned for modification 14 January 2004/ Accepted 23 February 2004

In order to further decrease the time lapse between initial inoculation of blood culture media and the reporting of results of identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests for microorganisms causing bacteremia, we performed a prospective study in which specially processed fluid from positive blood culture bottles from Bactec 9240 (Becton Dickinson, Cockeysville, Md.) containing aerobic media were directly inoculated into Vitek 2 system cards (bio-Mérieux, France). Organism identification and susceptibility results were compared with those obtained from cards inoculated with a standardized bacterial suspension obtained following subculture to agar; 100 consecutive positive monomicrobic blood cultures, consisting of 50 gram-negative rods and 50 gram-positive cocci, were included in the study. For gram-negative organisms, 31 of the 50 (62%) showed complete agreement with the standard method for species identification, while none of the 50 gram-positive cocci were correctly identified by the direct method. For gram-negative rods, there were 50% categorical agreements between the direct and standard methods for all drugs tested. The very major error rate was 2.4%, and the major error rate was 0.6%. The overall error rate for gram-negatives was 6.6%. Complete agreement in clinical categories of all antimicrobial agents evaluated was obtained for 19 of 50 (38%) gram-positive cocci evaluated; the overall error rate was 8.4%, with 2.8% minor errors, 2.4% major errors, and 3.2% very major errors. These findings suggest that the Vitek 2 cards inoculated directly from positive Bactec 9240 bottles do not provide acceptable bacterial identification or susceptibility testing in comparison with corresponding cards tested by a standard method.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Avda. Dr. Fedriani núm. 3, 41009 Seville, Spain. Phone: 34-955008138. Fax: 34-954377413. E-mail: m.decueto{at}vodafone.es.


Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2004, p. 3734-3738, Vol. 42, No. 8
0095-1137/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.42.8.3734-3738.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Carey, B E, Nicol, L (2008). The combined oxacillin resistance and coagulase (CORC) test for rapid identification and prediction of oxacillin resistance in Staphylococcus species directly from blood culture. J. Clin. Pathol. 61: 866-868 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Tan, T Y, Ng, L S Y, Kwang, L L (2008). Evaluation of disc susceptibility tests performed directly from positive blood cultures. J. Clin. Pathol. 61: 343-346 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ng, S. Y., Kwang, L. L., Tan, T. Y. (2007). Identification of Gram-negative bacilli directly from positive blood culture vials. J Med Microbiol 56: 475-479 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wellinghausen, N., Pietzcker, T., Poppert, S., Belak, S., Fieser, N., Bartel, M., Essig, A. (2007). Evaluation of the Merlin MICRONAUT System for Rapid Direct Susceptibility Testing of Gram-Positive Cocci and Gram-Negative Bacilli from Positive Blood Cultures. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 789-795 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Edelmann, A., Pietzcker, T., Wellinghausen, N. (2007). Comparison of direct disk diffusion and standard microtitre broth dilution susceptibility testing of blood culture isolates. J Med Microbiol 56: 202-207 [Abstract] [Full Text]