CLSI Publishes Guideline for Analysis and Presentation of Cumulative Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test Data
February 23rd, 2009
2009 FEB 23 -- Susceptibility statistical data, consisting of the cumulative and ongoing summary of the patterns of antimicrobial susceptibility of clinically important microorganisms, are important to the practice of medicine.
Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) updated the document Analysis and Presentation of Cumulative Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test Data; Approved Guideline—Third Edition (M39-A3). The primary aim of the document is to provide a guide for the preparation of cumulative antimicrobial susceptibility test data reports that will prove useful to clinicians in the selection of the most appropriate agents for initial empirical antimicrobial therapy.
Rebecca T. Horvat, PhD, D (ABMM), Director of Clinical Microbiology, University of Kansas Hospital, Associate Professor of Pathology and Lab Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, says, “Antimicrobial resistance continues to increase in clinical pathogens. Monitoring these changes and making a determination of significant developments can be challenging. A rationale approach to monitoring new resistance patterns allows health care institutions to develop reasonable protocols to identify changes that affect treatment option. The new, approved CLSI document M39-A3 continues to give some clear advice and ideas on calculating and presenting antimicrobial susceptibility data.”
Elizabeth Palavecino, MD, Director, Clinical Microbiology, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, agrees, “M39 provides wonderful guidance to clinical laboratories in the preparation of cumulative antibiograms. The document provides very useful algorithms for handling repeat isolates to avoid reporting misleading information. The recommendations for the analysis and presentation of data are practical and clinically relevant.”
Keywords: Antimicrobial Resistance, Antimicrobials, Clinical Microbiology, Drug Resistance, Pathology, Therapy, Treatment, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.
This article was prepared by Anti-Infectives Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Anti-Infectives Week via NewsRx.com.
