Determination of the real standard distribution of susceptible strains in zone histograms

Abstract

The procedure for NRI, a method for normalised resistance interpretation, is presented. By means of its promising autocalibration system the method generates zone breakpoints for resistance in zone diameter histograms for bacterial species–antibiotic combinations. These breakpoints give a normalised interpretation of resistance which is independent of disc test standard chosen, disc potency, medium used, inoculum size, etc. of the individual laboratory as long as the performance shows good reproducibility and precision. The method should be further tested as a tool for setting ‘bacteriological breakpoints’ or ‘epidemiological breakpoints’, for calculating resistance rates for comparative purposes, e.g. in antibiotic resistance surveillance, and for quality control of the disc diffusion test.