title: Ampicillin-sulbactam susceptibility testing criteria.
abstract: In vitro studies in five different medical centers documented the susceptibility of 2,440 consecutive isolates of the Enterobacteriaceae against ampicillin-sulbactam disks of different potencies. For determination of MICs, both 2:1 or 1:1 ratios were used as long as the concentrations of sulbactam at the breakpoints remained the same, i.e. MIC < or = 16/8.0 micrograms/ml or < or = 8.0/8.0 micrograms/ml for the susceptible category. Disks containing 10 micrograms of ampicillin and 10 micrograms of sulbactam are still to be preferred with interpretive criteria of > or = 15 mm for susceptible and < or = 11 mm for resistant (MIC > or = 64/32 micrograms/ml or > or = 32/32 micrograms/ml). The reliability of the disk test actually diminished when the amount of sulbactam in the disk was increased.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Microbiology Institute, Tualatin, Oregon 97062.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfaller
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gerlach
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
mesh_terms: D000667:Ampicillin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000187:drug effects*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000592:standards*; D013407:Sulbactam / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000667:Ampicillin; D013407:Sulbactam