Successful treatment of infectious diseases relies on knowledge and understanding of when antimicrobial resistance is an expected phenotype of the organism, and when resistance to antimicrobial agents may develop. The following documents provide up-to-date advice on how to screen for resistance, the expected phenotypes of different bacterial species (both susceptible and resistant), and how to detect clinically relevant resistance mechanisms.
July 2017
Download PDFThe first version of the EUCAST guideline for the detection of resistance mechanisms and specific resistances of clinical and/or public health importance was first published in December 2013. Following general consultation a revised version was published in 2017.
This updated EUCAST guideline provides practical recommendations for detecting antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in routine clinical laboratories. While not covering molecular methods or colonization screening, it offers definitions, clinical relevance, and recommended phenotypic detection methods for key resistance types. The guidelines are based on multi-center studies and aim to support infection control and public health efforts across Europe.
First published 1 December 2021
Download PDFEUCAST recommends the use of screening agents and disks to detect or exclude resistance mechanisms. The document contains screening tests referred to in the EUCAST breakpoint table. Criteria (MIC, zone diameter etc) for negative and positive tests are listed in the breakpoint table.
A general comment on “screening tests” is available in Breakpoint Tables Notes: A screening test uses one agent to detect or exclude resistance or predict susceptibility to one or more antimicrobial agents in the same class. The screening test is often more sensitive and/or robust than testing individual agents. Using a screening test will reduce the number of tests needed in primary susceptibility testing. It is especially useful when resistance is infrequent. Guidance on how to act on the screening test result is in the Note related to each specific test in the breakpoint tables. Recommendations on methods to detect resistance mechanisms for epidemiological purposes are in the EUCAST Guidance document “EUCAST guidelines for detection of resistance mechanisms and specific resistances of clinical and/or epidemiological importance”.
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