Performance of MBS POCT antibiotic susceptibility test.
infection
INFECTION, POLYMICROBIAL INFECTION, POSITIVE
The performance of MBS POCT Antibiotic Susceptibility Test was compared with reference method’s antibiogram’s for the antibiotics of interest, considering the patients enrolled in both studies. Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) have been calculated according to Friedman et al [*(nA key issue brought to light by ex post verification analyses is the bias associated with selection of bacterial colonies for antibiogram profiling. Indeed, in case of polymicrobial infections, more than one bacterial strain is found in urine samples participating in the infection, possibly displaying different susceptibility to antibiotics. After plating, usually, only few colonies undergo further analysis, giving clinicians incomplete information about uropathogens resistance profile. It is not infrequent that prescribed therapy results ineffective. Antibiotic susceptibility assessment using the MBS AST POCT relies on culture, in the presence of antibiotics, of urine sample itself, meaning no colony selection occurs, taking into account all bacterial strains within the sample. In this way, the MBS AST POCT evaluates the antibiotic susceptibility of the overall bacterial pool, avoiding operator’s subjective interpretation of results.