[Evaluation of the sensitivity to antibiotics of Bacteroides and Fusobacterium using the ATB ANA system].

The susceptibility to antibiotics of 100 Gram negative obligate anaerobes of the Bacteroides and Fusobacterium species was tested using the ATB ANA method. Results were compared to those obtained by addition of the tested antibiotics to Wilkins-Chalgren medium in the critical concentrations. Agreement between the two methods was satisfactory (80 to 100%) for the low cutoff concentrations, except for doxycycline. When the pathogens are divided into susceptible, intermediate and resistant strains, results are more difficult to interpret because of the existence of the intermediate category: however, major discrepancies (R/S) did not exceed 3.2% except for cefotaxime (15%). Our results show that use of ATB ANA microplates in an anaerobic enclosure is a valuable method in clinical practice.