Diagnosis of bacterial infections. Part 2: Bacterial cultivation, susceptibility testing and interpretation.

摘要

Bacterial culture and susceptibility testing are requested frequently in equine medicine. However, there is little value in these tests unless a standardised approach for submission of specimens, pathogen identification and susceptibility testing is utilized. Additionally, appropriate interpretation must be applied when assessing the significance of the isolate and susceptibility testing results if appropriate therapies are to be prescribed. In this paper we briefly outline standard techniques used commonly in veterinary diagnostic laboratories for bacterial isolation, identification and susceptibility testing. Emphasis has been placed on the principles appropriate to ensure the correct interpretation of culture and susceptibility testing results.