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Inga Karlsson

Publications and source records attributed to Inga Karlsson.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Epidemiological MIC cut-off values for tigecycline calculated from Etest MIC values using normalized resistance interpretation.

OBJECTIVES: To apply the normalized resistance interpretation (NRI) method to Etest MIC results which have higher precision than conventional log2 dilution MIC tests due to the inclusion of intermediate values. If successful, NRI might provide an objective tool for the definition of epidemiological MIC cut-off values. METHODS: MICs of tigecycline and other antimicrobial agents were determined for 4771 clinical isolates comprising five Gram-positive and 13 Gram-negative species or species groups using the Etest. Histograms of MIC values were constructed for each species and NRI calculations were applied to them. An upper MIC limit of 2.5 SD above the theoretical mean of the normalized distribution was used for setting the epidemiological cut-off values. RESULTS: Calculated cut-off values for wild-type strains were between 0.11 and 0.96 mg/L for Gram-positive species, and between 0.44 and 8.3 mg/L for Gram-negative species, except for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which had a cut-off value of 450 mg/L, consistent with earlier reports on the lack of activity of tigecycline against this species. CONCLUSIONS: NRI offers an objective method for the analysis of MICs produced using Etests and the determination of epidemiological MIC cut-off values.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Extended antimicrobial resistance screening of the dominant faecal Escherichia coli and of rare resistant clones.

Fifty faecal samples from healthy adults were grown on MacConkey agar and three pink colonies were subcultured, identified to species level and their antimicrobial susceptibility determined. Forty-seven samples yielded 141 isolates of Escherichia coli that were susceptible to most antimicrobials. Resistance was noted for ampicillin (30.5%), chloramphenicol (12.1%), tetracycline (23.4%), trimethoprim (24.8%) and co-trimoxazole (22.7%). A direct faecal plating method was used for extended resistance screening with E. coli as the indicator organism. Zone breakpoints were determined using normalised resistance interpretation and gave similar susceptibility results. Eighty-eight isolates of E. coli from within the zones of inhibition revealed four times more antimicrobial resistance. Extended antimicrobial resistance screening both provides the susceptibility profile of the dominant E. coli isolate and detects greater resistance in rare isolates.

Ampicillin↗

Contribution of efflux to cefuroxime resistance in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli.

Retrospective data showed that resistance to cefuroxime among clinical blood culture isolates of Escherichia coli (2.67%) was more common than resistance to cefotaxime (0.59%) and ceftazidime (1.48%). 30 clinical isolates of E. coli with various degrees of resistance to cefuroxime were selected for the present studies. Antibiotic susceptibility to beta-lactam antibiotics was determined with the disc-diffusion method and for cefuroxime also with the E-test. The ability to grow in the presence of organic solvents was determined as a phenotypical measure of efflux. The organic solvent tolerance (OST) was graded on a scale from 1 to 5. Antibiotic susceptibility to cefuroxime, cefotaxime, ceftazidime and loracarbef was also determined in the presence of a known efflux pump inhibitor, MC-207,110. The strains that were organic solvent tolerant had significantly higher minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for cefuroxime than the other E. coli strains (median 24 mg/l, range 4 to > 256 mgn/l vs median 4 mg/l, range 2-64 mg/l) and significantly lower cefuroxime zone diameters (p < 0.02). In the strains with most pronounced organic solvent tolerance, i.e. the cyclohexane-tolerant strains, the cefuroxime MIC values were decreased 2-fold (p < 0.03) and the zone diameters increased (p < 0.02) by the addition of an efflux pump inhibitor, MC-207,110. The findings supported the hypothesis that efflux contributes to cefuroxime resistance in E. coli.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Calibration of fusidic acid disk diffusion susceptibility testing of Staphylococcus areus.

Single strain regression analysis, SRA, was used to calibrate disk diffusion fusidic acid susceptibility testing of Staphylococcus aureus in two laboratories using different standard methods but the same interpretative MIC limits. SRA equation constants were calculated using five different fusidic acid disk contents (1.5, 5, 15, 50, 150 microg). These disks were tested on five separate occasions against quality control strain S. aureus ATCC 29213. The National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) method was employed in Tartu, Estonia (TE) and the Swedish Reference Group for Antibiotics (SRGA) method in Sweden at the Karolinska Hospital (KS). SRA constants obtained were used for calculating zone breakpoints corresponding to MIC breakpoints recommended by the SRGA (S < or = 0.5 mg/L, R > or = 1 mg/L). Zone diameter histograms from KS, performed with a 50 microg disk, and from TE, using a 10 microg disk, showed a clustering of wild type strains around 41 mm and 30 mm, respectively, reflecting differences in methodology. Zone breakpoints calculated from the equations were validated by comparison with the histograms. Breakpoints were also calculated for a suggested lower disk content in Sweden, 10 microg, and validated in tests of clinical isolates and by histogram analysis.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗