Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1987 Nov;25(11):2105–2113. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.11.2105-2113.1987

Improved medium for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Haemophilus influenzae.

J H Jorgensen 1, J S Redding 1, L A Maher 1, A W Howell 1
PMCID: PMC269421  PMID: 3500965

Abstract

The need for complex growth media has complicated routine susceptibility testing of Haemophilus influenzae because of antagonism of certain antimicrobial agents by the medium or because of difficulties in interpretation of growth endpoints. Haemophilus test medium (HTM) is a simple, transparent medium for broth- or agar-based tests with H. influenzae. HTM incorporates Mueller-Hinton medium with additions of 15 micrograms of hematin per ml, 15 micrograms of NAD per ml, and 5 mg of yeast extract per ml as growth-promoting additives. Agar or broth microdilution MICs of 10 antimicrobial agents for a collection of 179 H. influenzae isolates determined by using HTM compared favorably with MICs determined by the conventional agar or broth dilution methods recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. Disk diffusion tests performed with HTM allowed accurate categorization of susceptible and resistant strains and were easier to interpret than tests performed with Mueller-Hinton chocolate agar. A particular advantage of HTM was the reliability of broth- or agar-based test results with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The results of the study suggest modification of current National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards MIC-interpretive criteria for H. influenzae with amoxicillin-clavulanate, chloramphenicol, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Error rate-bounded analysis of MICs and disk diffusion zone sizes also suggest modified zone-interpretive criteria for ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline with HTM or conventional media. Interpretive zone sizes are newly proposed for cefaclor and rifampin disk diffusion tests.

Full text

PDF
2105

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Azemun P., Stull T., Roberts M., Smith A. L. Rapid detection of chloramphenicol resistance in Haemophilus influenzae. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1981 Aug;20(2):168–170. doi: 10.1128/aac.20.2.168. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bergeron M. G., Simard P., Provencher P. Influence of growth medium and supplement on growth of Haemophilus influenzae and on antibacterial activity of several antibiotics. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Apr;25(4):650–655. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.4.650-655.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brinkley A. W., Huber T. W. Method for evaluating broth culture media: application to Haemophilus. J Clin Microbiol. 1978 Nov;8(5):520–524. doi: 10.1128/jcm.8.5.520-524.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Campos J., Garcia-Tornel S., Sanfeliu I. Susceptibility studies of multiply resistant Haemophilus influenzae isolated from pediatric patients and contacts. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1984 Jun;25(6):706–709. doi: 10.1128/aac.25.6.706. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Doern G. V., Chapin K. C. Susceptibility of Haemophilus influenzae to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, erythromycin, cefaclor, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1986 Jan;4(1):37–41. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(86)90054-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Doern G. V., Jorgensen J. H., Thornsberry C., Preston D. A. Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among clinical isolates of Haemophilus influenzae: a collaborative study. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1986 Feb;4(2):95–107. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(86)90143-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fass R. J., Helsel V. L. Modified microdilution susceptibility test for staphylococci, streptococci and Haemophilus spp. Eur J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Aug;3(4):318–319. doi: 10.1007/BF01977481. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fuchs P. C., Barry A. L., Thornsberry C., Gavan T. L., Jones R. N. In vitro evaluation of Augmentin by broth microdilution and disk diffusion susceptibility testing: regression analysis, tentative interpretive criteria, and quality control limits. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1983 Jul;24(1):31–38. doi: 10.1128/aac.24.1.31. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HOLT L. B. The growth-factor requirements of Haemopiius influenzae. J Gen Microbiol. 1962 Feb;27:317–322. doi: 10.1099/00221287-27-2-317. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hansman D. Haemophilus influenzae type B resistant to tetracycline isolated from children with meningitis. Lancet. 1975 Nov 8;2(7941):893–896. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)92128-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Istre G. R., Conner J. S., Glode M. P., Hopkins R. S. Increasing ampicillin-resistance rates in Hemophilus influenzae meningitis. Am J Dis Child. 1984 Apr;138(4):366–369. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1984.02140420032012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Jones R. N., Barry A. L., Fuchs P. C., Thornsberry C. Disk diffusion susceptibility testing of two macrolide antimicrobial agents: revised interpretive criteria for erythromycin and preliminary guidelines for roxithromycin (RU 965). J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Aug;24(2):233–239. doi: 10.1128/jcm.24.2.233-239.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Jorgensen J. H., Jones P. M. Simplified medium for ampicillin susceptibility testing of Haemophilus influenzae. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1975 Feb;7(2):186–190. doi: 10.1128/aac.7.2.186. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Jorgensen J. H., Lee J. C. Standardized disk-diffusion susceptibility test for Haemophilus influenzae. Am J Clin Pathol. 1977 Mar;67(3):264–268. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/67.3.264. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kamme C. Susceptibility in vitro of Haemophilus influenzae to penicillin G, penicillin V and ampicillin. Incubation of strains from acute otitis media in air and in CO2-atmosphere. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand. 1969;75(4):611–621. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kauffman C. A., Bergman A. G., Hertz C. S. Antimicrobial resistance of Haemophilus species in patients with chronic bronchitis. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1979 Dec;120(6):1382–1385. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1979.120.6.1382. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kenny J. F., Isburg C. D., Michaels R. H. Meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae type b resistant to both ampicillin and chloramphenicol. Pediatrics. 1980 Jul;66(1):14–16. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kinmonth A. L., Storrs C. N., Mitchell R. G. Meningitis due to chloramphenicol-resistant Haemophilus influenzae type b. Br Med J. 1978 Mar 18;1(6114):694–694. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6114.694. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kirven L. A., Thornsberry C. In vitro susceptibility of Haemophilus influenzae to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1974 Dec;6(6):869–870. doi: 10.1128/aac.6.6.869. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Lorian V., Sabath L. D. Effect of pH on the activity of erythromycin against 500 isolates of gram-negative bacilli. Appl Microbiol. 1970 Nov;20(5):754–756. doi: 10.1128/am.20.5.754-756.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. McLinn S. E., Nelson J. D., Haltalin K. C. Antimicrobial susceptibility of Hemophilus influenzae. Pediatrics. 1970 May;45(5):827–838. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Mendelman P. M., Chaffin D. O., Clausen C., Stull T. L., Needham C., Williams J. D., Smith A. L. Failure to detect ampicillin-resistant, non-beta-lactamase-producing Haemophilus influenzae by standard disk susceptibility testing. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1986 Aug;30(2):274–280. doi: 10.1128/aac.30.2.274. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Mendelman P. M., Doroshow C. A., Gandy S. L., Syriopoulou V., Weigen C. P., Smith A. L. Plasmid-mediated resistance in multiply resistant Haemophilus influenzae type b causing meningitis: molecular characterization of one strain and review of the literature. J Infect Dis. 1984 Jul;150(1):30–39. doi: 10.1093/infdis/150.1.30. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Metzler C. M., DeHaan R. M. Susceptibility tests of anaerobic bacteria: statistical and clinical considerations. J Infect Dis. 1974 Dec;130(6):588–594. doi: 10.1093/infdis/130.6.588. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Neter E. Yeast Autolysate: A Culture Medium for Hemophilus influenzae. Science. 1947 Oct 10;106(2754):350–352. doi: 10.1126/science.106.2754.350-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Offit P. A., Campos J. M., Plotkin S. A. Ampicillin-resistant, beta-lactamase-negative haemophilus influenzae type b. Pediatrics. 1982 Feb;69(2):230–232. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Strandberg D. A., Jorgensen J. H., Drutz D. J. Activities of newer beta-lactam antibiotics against ampicillin, chloramphenicol, or multiply-resistant Haemophilus influenzae. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1984 Sep;2(4):333–337. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(84)90065-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Thornsberry C., Kirven L. A. Ampicillin resistance in Haemophilus influenzae as determined by a rapid test for beta-lactamase production. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1974 Nov;6(5):653–654. doi: 10.1128/aac.6.5.653. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Walterspiel J. N., Mason E. O., Jr, Kaplan S. L. Disc inhibition zones of rifampin against Haemophilus influenzae type b. Pediatr Infect Dis. 1985 Mar-Apr;4(2):209–210. doi: 10.1097/00006454-198503000-00022. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Washington J. A., 2nd, Snyder R. J., Kohner P. C. Spurious ampicillin resistance by testing Haemophilus influenzae with agar containing supplement C. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1976 Jan;9(1):199–200. doi: 10.1128/aac.9.1.199. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES