title: Evaluation of the VITEK 2 system for rapid identification of medically relevant gram-negative rods.
abstract: The new VITEK 2 system (bioMérieux) was evaluated at two independent sites with the identification card for gram-negative bacilli (ID-GNB card). Of the 845 strains tested, which represented 70 different taxa belonging to either the family Enterobacteriaceae or the nonenteric bacilli, 716 (84.7%) were correctly identified at the species level. Thirty-two (3.8%) additional strains were identified to the species level after the performance of simple, rapid manual tests (oxidase, hemolysis, indole reaction, motility, and pigmentation). For 80 (9.5%) strains, these additional tests did not lead to an identification at the species level but the correct species identification was given among the organisms listed. Only 7 (0.8%) strains were misidentified, and 10 (1.2%) were not identified. Mistakes were randomly distributed over different taxa. Due to the new, more sensitive fluorescence-based technology of the VITEK 2 system, final results were available after 3 h. Since our evaluation was mainly a stress test, it is predicted that the VITEK 2 system in conjunction with the ID-GNB card would perform well under conditions of a routine clinical laboratory in identifying members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and selected species of nonenteric bacteria. This system is a promising, highly automated new tool for the rapid identification of gram-negative bacilli from human clinical specimens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Zürich, Switzerland. funke@immv.unizh.ch
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Funke
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Monnet
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: deBernardis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Graevenitz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Freney
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004756:Enterobacteriaceae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic