Amikacin AMI 30 µg (5x 50 discs, Oxoid)

BACKGROUND
Antibiotic disc diffusion tests are used to determine the semi-quantitative susceptibility testing of common, fast-growing and certain fastidious bacteria to antibiotics using the agar diffusion method.

TEST PRINCIPLE
The filter paper discs impregnated with defined amounts of antibiotics are applied to the surface of a suitable medium (e.g. Mueller-Hinton agar). The culture medium must first be inoculated with a standardised inoculum (EUCAST recommendation: McFarland 0.5) of a fresh pure culture of the bacterial strain to be tested. After a 24-hour incubation, growth is checked, the inhibition zones around the test discs are measured and compared with the clinical breakpoints for the various antibiotics tested to determine susceptibility (S - Susceptible to standard exposure, I - potentially susceptible to increased exposure, R - Resistant). The diameter of the inhibition zones corresponds to the susceptibility of the bacterial strain tested to the antibiotic concentration at the edge of the inhibition zone.

You can find various service documents, such as templates with inhibition zone limits for easy evaluation of the agar diffusion test and a collection of guidelines in our media library. Contents and storage:

· Cartridges with 50 test discs each
· Store at 2-8°C.

As an alternative to agar diffusion, we recommend agar dilution, which can be partially automated, e.g. with the MICRONAUT system, and for which there are increasingly more and more accurate clinical breakpoints, meaning that, since EUCAST 10.0 (2020) at the latest, certain antibiotics can only be tested using agar dilution, and no longer using agar diffusion (!). We would be happy to advise you on this and help you find the best solution for you.