MBS AST POCT antibiotic susceptibility test results
In the first clinical trial analyses with the MBS AST POCT were performed on all patients admitted in the ED immediately after urine collection. Given the small patient pool in this first trial, following data should be considered a proof of concept for the possible application of the MBS AST POCT for the preliminary susceptibility profiling of uroflora in an easier though reliable way, meaning directly from urine samples. The tested antibiotics were amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and levofloxacin.Considering levofloxacin, in 9 cases color change occurred in the reaction vial containing the antibiotic, meaning the infecting bacteria resulted resistant (69%), while in 4 cases no color change occurred in the antibiotic supplemented reaction vial, and infecting bacteria were recorded as susceptible (31%). Considering amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, 11 samples resulted resistance (85%), while 2 samples susceptibility (15%). Agreement was reached for 12 out of 13 samples analyzed (92%), as all MBS AST POCT results were in agreement with those of hospital laboratory, except one. Given such discordance, this sample underwent verification analysis.In the second clinical trial analyses were performed only on culture positive samples. This permitted to expand the pool of tested patients, allowing a more solid statistical analysis and a deeper understanding of MBS AST POCT potential. The tested antibiotics were amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole: 57 samples were screened for susceptibility to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, 80 to ciprofloxacin and 72 to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole respectively.Considering amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, 36 samples resulted resistant (63%) and 21 (37%) susceptible; for ciprofloxacin results were respectively 34 (42.5%) resistant and 46 (57.5%) susceptible; for trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole 27 samples were resistant (37.5%) and 45 susceptible (62.5%). Agreement was reached for a total of 193 samples out of 209 (92%), with 16 results (8%) showing discordance between the AST-POCT and the reference method. Following operating protocol, such samples underwent verification analysis.All MBS AST POCT results were obtained within 12 hours. In particular, the average detection time to asses resistance to antibiotics was of 5 hours and results were obtained in less than 6 hours in 71% of cases (