[Evaluation of results for controlling the variability of diagnostic tests for intestinal bacteria introduced to the laboratories of sanitary-epidemiologic stations in 1995].

In this testing bacteriological laboratories of 49 epidemiological stations were participating. Eleven control tests were prepared in form of lyophilize faecal samples containing three different organisms in each sample with pathogenic organisms present in each of 10 tests (a different species in each test) along with a non-pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae strain, while the 11th test contained only organisms belonging to physiological intestinal flora. Each laboratory received two different tests for doing them. The following bacterial strains were used S. oranienburg var, lac+ S. muenster, S. infantis, S. sonnei, S. flexneri, A. hydrophila, Y. enterocolitica, E. coli 018, E. coli 026, E. coli 0124, and as accompanying organisms: C. freundii var lac+ and lac-, P. mirabilis and H. alvei. Among 49 participating laboratories 31 (63.3%) detected the etiological infectious agent in both samples, or its absence was shown in the 11th test. In 23 laboratories (46.9%) the cultured organisms were species-grouped or their serological type was established, in the remaining 8 laboratories (16.3%) the identification was incomplete or serological type was not correctly recognized. In 15 laboratories (30.6%) the infectious agent was found in only one test, and in 12 of these laboratories (25.5%) the cultured organism were identified correctly completely, and in 3 (6.1%) identification was incomplete or serological type was not correctly recognized. In 3 (6.1%) among 49 laboratories the infectious agent was not found in any test. The study made possible an insight into the reliability of the diagnostic tests for Enterobacteriaceae carried out in the sanitary-epidemiological stations. The use of faeces-simulating samples made possible to assess not only the correct identification of the isolated organisms, but also to trace the course of the diagnostic management used in each laboratory for testing of faeces samples.