Evaluation of an automated rapid phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (ASTar, Q-linea AB) applied directly on blood cultures bottles positive for Gram-negative pathogens

New Microbiol. 2024 May;47(1):107-110.

Abstract

We evaluated the performance of a new rapid phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility test (ASTar; Q-linea AB) on Gram-negative bacilli, directly from positive blood cultures bottles. MIC values obtained by the routine reference method (Microscan, Beckman Coulter) were compared to the ones provided by the tested method (ASTar). ASTar demonstrated an overall essential agreement of 98% and a category agreement of 96.1%. The overall rate of major errors and very major errors was 2.5% and 3.3%, respectively. ASTar can represent a rapid, simple, and reliable method to speed up information about antimicrobial susceptibility of Gram-negative pathogens from positive blood culture bottles.

Keywords: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing; MIC; antimicrobial resistance; blood cultures; rapid AST.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents* / pharmacology
  • Bacteremia* / microbiology
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial*
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria* / classification
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria* / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae / drug effects
  • Microbiological Techniques* / methods
  • Reproducibility of Results

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents