Reply to: Ciprofloxacin susceptibility testing of enterococcal urinary isolates in accordance with BSAC guidelines

J. M. Andrews*, R. Wise and on behalf of the BSAC Working Party on Sensitivity Training

Department of Microbiology, City Hospital NHS Trust, Dudley Road, Birmingham B18 7QH, UK

Sir,

The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) Working Party on Sensitivity Testing recognizes that there are gaps to be filled in the recommendations. In their paper, Cotter & Adley1 have used BSAC interpretative criteria intended to be used for coliforms isolated from uncomplicated urinary tract infections to interpret the susceptibility of enterococci. It is therefore not surprising that they found a poor correlation between MIC and the result of disc susceptibility testing when a 1 µg ciprofloxacin disc was used. It would have been more helpful to users of the BSAC standardized method of disc susceptibility testing if the authors had focused on presenting data for the 5 µg disc, rather than criticizing the method by incorrect application of interpretative criteria.

Footnotes

* Corresponding author. Tel: +44-121-507-5693; Fax: +44-121-551-7763; E-mail: jenny.andrews{at}cityhospbham.wmids.nhs.uk Back

References

1 . Cotter, G. & Adley, C. C. (2001). Ciprofloxacin susceptibility testing of enterococcal urinary isolates in accordance with BSAC guidelines. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 48, 324–5.[Free Full Text]