Antibiotic resistance is a serious global problem and an undesirable consequence of modern healthcare. One of the most successful bacterial resistance mechanisms is the production of enzymes, including β-lactamases. Many Enterobacteriaceae, most commonly E. coli and K. pneumoniae, produce extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL). Enterobacteriaceae that produce extended-spectrum β-lactamases are resistant to penicillins, aztreonam, and first-, second-, and third-generation cephalosporins, while remaining susceptible to carbapenems and cephamycins. Their activity is inhibited by β-lactamase inhibitors such as clavulanic acid, sulbactam, tazobactam, avibactam, and others. (1)
In medical microbiology laboratories, identification of pathogenic microorganisms and antibiotic susceptibility testing are key to effective infection management. Several methods are available for the detection of extended-spectrum β-lactamases. Until recently, the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, used the combination disk method for extended-spectrum β-lactamases confirmation. This method involves the use of cefotaxime 30 μg and ceftazidime 30 μg disks, with and without clavulanic acid 10 μg, following the standard of Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Since 2014, antibiotic susceptibility testing in Slovenia has been based on the European Commitee on Antimicrobial Susceptibillity Testing standard. Therefore, we aimed to apply this standard also for the detection of extended-spectrum β-lactamases, which recommends using lower concentrations of cephalosporins cefotaxime and ceftazidime in both screening and confirmatory combination disk methods.
We compared whether combination disks with cefotaxime 5 μg and ceftazidime 10 μg, with and without clavulanic acid, as recommended by EUCAST, provide comparable results to disks containing higher concentrations of antibiotics according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute standard. The study included five reference strains and fifty clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae. Disks from BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company, USA) were used as reference and compared with disks from Liofilchem (Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy) and Mast Diagnostics (Bootle, UK).
Testing and comparison showed that the combination disks for extended-spectrum β-lactamases confirmation according to the EUCAST guidelines demonstrated equal or superior sensitivity and specificity compared to the higher concentration disks recommended by CLSI. Based on these results, the EUCAST-recommended disks have been implemented in routine diagnostics at the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology.
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