Importance of the Correct Susceptibility Tests Report and Identification of Genus & Species for the Correct Antibiotic Treatment Selection

Marcel Marcano-Lozada

Aggregate Professor Microbiology Department, “J.M. Vargas” School of Medicine, Universidad Central de Venezuela & Medical Microbiology Specialist, Medical Microbiology Unit, Angios Vascular Center & Wound Clinic, Caracas, Venezuela

Dr. Marcel Marcano-Lozada, Aggregate Professor Microbiology Department, “J.M. Vargas” School of Medicine, Universidad Central de Venezuela & Medical Microbiology Specialist, Medical Microbiology Unit, Caracas, Venezuela

Keywords: Genus; Antibiotic; Microbiology; Species; MIC; MIC Creep; Susceptibility

Abstract

Many years of experience in the Microbiology laboratory combined with the clinical practice attending patients with infectious diseases and supporting advisory in microbiology quality, let a lot of histories to tell, many of them bittersweet because when a pitfall in the microbiological diagnosis comes to light, in many cases isn’t too late to help the patient and minimize damages to its health.
The antimicrobial selection comes in two stages: the first one is the “empiric” selection, that is not really empiric, because the background of epidemiological information plus the clinical & therapeutic history, let the physician suspect the possible disease and the etiological agent involves; and with this ground of knowledge, the antimicrobial agent selection is not blind as many people suspect; the second stage is related to the arrival of the microbiological results, the identification of the agent and its antimicrobial susceptibility profile, and at this moment many physicians felt the temptation to change, rotate, escalate or de-escalate the anti-infective treatment, only based in this results, missing the whole picture that puts these results on their hands, an infected patient.

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