MICROBIAL SENSITIVITY TEST IN MANAGEMENT OF URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS

Abstract

Prompt determination of the causative organism and of its sensitiveness to various antibiotics is important in cases of infection. The test here described involves the use of a special culture medium and antibiotic disks. The medium contains whole blood and is spread, with the inoculum, on plates. After incubation, the presence of bright red zones about certain disks indicates the antibiotics to which the predominant organism is sensitive. The method has been applied in a study of 789 specimens from urinary infections, in which the organisms most frequently found were Escherichia, Proteus, and Streptococcus. Patients who had been refractory to prolonged empirical therapy responded quickly, in nearly every case, to therapy based on this testing of the causative organisms.