[Determination of the susceptibility of staphylococci and enterococci to plycopeptides by the E-test method].

E-test was evaluated by comparison with the reference agar dilution method on 15 enterococci and 15 staphylococci with variable resistance to glycopeptides and isolated from clinical samples: 15 enterococci with 3 glycopeptide-resistant (2 E. facalis and 1 E. faecium), 1 glycopeptide intermediate E. gallinarum and 11 glycopeptide-sensible E. faecalis; 15 staphylococci with 4 teicoplanine-resistant (1 S. aureus, 1 S. epidermidis and 2 S. hominis), 3 teicoplanin-intermediate (1 S. epidermidis, 2 S. haemolyticus) and 8 teicoplanin sensible strains (6 S. aureus, 1 S. epidermidis and 1 S. hominis). Repeatability (10 determinations by strain) and exactitude were tested for all strains. Our data shows very good results for repeatability and exactitude with the reference method except in the case of coagulase negative staphylococci and teicoplanin. Some technical problems appear in our experience: for staphylococci, a 48 h incubation is necessary to detect teicoplanin-intermediate strains but 24 h is sufficient for enterococci. E-test is expensive, require a strict methodology, but is a good method to detect glycopeptide resistance for staphylococci and enterococci except for coagulase negative staphylococci and teicoplanine.