Skip to main content
Journal of Clinical Pathology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Pathology
. 1975 Oct;28(10):779–783. doi: 10.1136/jcp.28.10.779

Comparison of antibiotic discs from different sources.

D F Brown, D Kothari
PMCID: PMC475859  PMID: 1214010

Abstract

Antibiotic discs from Oxoid, Mast, AB Biodisk, Difco, and Baltimore Biological Laboratories were compared, where discs of similar antibiotic content were available, in diffusion-sensitivity tests against organisms of known sensitivity. Discs from Oxoid and Mast gave zones 1-5 mm larger than discs from other manufacturers with penicillin 2 units, ampicillin 10 mug, cephalothin 30 mug, methicillin 10 mug, carbenicillin 100 mug, erythromycin 15 mug, chloramphenicol 50 mug, and trimethoprim 1-25 mug, while discs containing aminoglycoside antibiotics, lincomycin, fusidic acid, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, penicillin 10 units, and polymyxin B gave similar zone sizes whatever the source. Where tested, different batches of single discs from the same source did not vary significantly in antibiotic content as indicated by variation in zone size; but with some antibiotics Multodisks gave larger zones than single discs from the same source. The implications of these differences are discussed.

Full text

PDF
779

Selected References

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

  1. Brown D. F., Selkon J. B. Letter: Antibiotic discs active against resistant organisms. Br Med J. 1974 Mar 23;1(5907):573–573. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5907.573. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Drew W. L., Barry A. L., O'Toole R., Sherris J. C. Reliability of the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method for detecting methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. Appl Microbiol. 1972 Aug;24(2):240–247. doi: 10.1128/am.24.2.240-247.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ericsson H. M., Sherris J. C. Antibiotic sensitivity testing. Report of an international collaborative study. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand B Microbiol Immunol. 1971;217(Suppl):1+–1+. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Garrod L. P., Waterworth P. M. Tests of bacterial sensitivity to drugs. Dis Mon. 1971 Jul;:1–48. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Griffith L. J., Mullins C. G. Drug resistance as influenced by inactivated sensitivity discs. Appl Microbiol. 1968 Apr;16(4):656–658. doi: 10.1128/am.16.4.656-658.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hoo R., Drew W. L. Potential unreliability of nitrofurantoin disks in susceptibility testing. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1974 Jun;5(6):607–610. doi: 10.1128/aac.5.6.607. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. OSTRANDER W. E., GRIFFITH L. J. An evaluation of different types of paper concerning their suitability for sensitivity discs. Antibiot Annu. 1958;6:813–817. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Pathology are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES