Efficacy of the E-test in evaluating the antimicrobial susceptibility of anaerobic bacteria of veterinary interest.

Abstract

A study was made of the sensitivity of 39 clinical isolates of anaerobic bacteria to 10 antimicrobial agents. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were calculated using a new method--the E-test (AB Biodisk, Solna, Sweden)--and compared with those obtained using the conventional agar dilution method. Agreement between the MICs obtained by the two methods with a variation of +/- 2 dilutions was 78.7%. The E-test, though less sensitive than the conventional agar dilution method, may be of value in clinical veterinary practice when rapid selection of treatment for a given infectious process is required.