Antibiotic sensitivity culture the bacteria. This can help in the diagnosis. Once a culture is established, there are two possible ways to get an antibiogram: Once the MIC is calculated, it can be compared to known values for a given bacterium and antibiotic: e.g. a MIC > 0,06 µg/ml may be interpreted as a penicillin-resistant "Streptococcus pneumoniae". Such information may be useful to the clinician, who can change the empirical treatment, to a more custom-tailored treatment that is directed only at the causative bacterium. Often clinical specimens are sent to the clinical laboratory for culture and sensitivity (C&S), which is culture and
Antibiotic sensitivity antibiotic sensitivity testing offered as one combined service. This is because the clinician needs to know which organism is causing the infection, and which drugs will specifically work against this strain. Jump up ^ http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/bugdrug/antibiotic_manual/bk.html Jump up ^ http://www.slideshare.net/doctorrao/antibiotic-sensitivity-testing-presentation Jump up ^ http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/49/11/1749.full Jump up ^ http://www.microrao.com/micronotes/antibiotic.pdf Antibiotic sensitivity Antibiotic sensitivity or antibiotic susceptibility is the susceptibility of bacteria to antibiotics. Because susceptibility can vary even within a species (with some strains being more resistant than others), antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) is usually carried out to determine which antibiotic will be most successful in treating a bacterial infection in vivo.