Quality control of antimicrobial disc susceptibility testing with a rapid method compared to the standard methods.

A rapid method for assay of antimicrobial agents in human serum was modified to provide a method for rapidly assessing the activity of antimicrobial discs being used for susceptibility testing. Each morning, discs are taken from the clinical laboratory's working supply and are applied directly onto test plates which have been inoculated, preincubated, and stored in a refrigerator. Inhibitory zones can be measured within 5 to 6 hr, i.e., before that day's batch of tests is to be set up. If the zone of inhibition for any agent is more than 2 standard deviations below the mean, the discs are discarded and another cartridge is selected from the stock supply for that day's susceptibility tests. In this way, discs of questionable potency are discarded before they are used for testing, rather than waiting until the next day as is usually done with the standard methods. The rapid control test yields zones which are slightly smaller and somewhat more variable than with the standard Kirby-Bauer or agar overlay methods, but the slight decrease in precision is outweighed by the advantages of rapidity and simplicity.