Rapid and automated identification of Enterobacteriaceae with the abbott MS-2 system and API-20E versus conventional methods.

The ability of the MS-2 (Abbott Laboratories, Diagnostic Division, Dallas, Texas) to rapidly identify Enterobacteriaceae, was evaluated. The results of the MS-2 and of the Analytab API-20E test strip were compared with those obtained from conventional tubed media. The MS-2 and API-20E completely agreed with the conventional method for 92% and 95% of the organisms, respectively. Only 0.5% (MS-2) to 0% (API-20E) of the organisms tested led to complete disagreement. Approximately 6% (MS-2) and 3.5% (API-20E) of the organisms would have shown complete agreement if additional tests had been done. For 1.5% of the organisms the octal code could not be found in the API-20E profile index. It was concluded that the MS-2 system provides a rapid (5 to 6 h) and accurate method for the routine identification of Enterobacteriaceae.

Evaluation of Micro-ID, for identification of Enterobacteriaceae.

Micro-ID system is a new identification kit for Enterobacteriaceae which provides the identification at the species level 4 hours after primary isolation. When compared with conventional biochemical tube media, micro-ID gave a 94% agreement. Comparison of Micro-ID with Api 20 E showed a 90% agreement. A comparison of all 3 systems showed that for 90% of the time, the isolates were named the same by the all systems.