AUTHOR=Cherkaoui Abdessalam , Renzi Gesuele , Charretier Yannick , Blanc Dominique S. , Vuilleumier Nicolas , Schrenzel Jacques
TITLE=Automated Incubation and Digital Image Analysis of Chromogenic Media Using Copan WASPLab Enables Rapid Detection of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
VOLUME=9
YEAR=2019
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2019.00379
DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2019.00379
ISSN=2235-2988
ABSTRACT=Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess whether the WASPLab automation enables faster detection of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) on chromogenic VRE-specific plates by shortening the incubation time.
Methods: Ninety different VRE culture negative rectal ESwab specimens were spiked with various concentrations (ranging from 3 × 102 to 3 × 107 CFU/ml) of 10 Enterococcus faecium strains (vancomycin MICs ranging from 32 to >256 mg/l), 3 E. faecium VanB strains (vancomycin MICs: 4, 8, and 16 mg/l), and 2 E. faecium VanB strains displaying vancomycin heteroresistance (vancomycin MICs: 64 and 96 mg/l).
Results: Besides the two strains exhibiting vancomycin heteroresistance, all the other 13 VRE strains included in this study were detected as early as 24 h on the WASPLab even if the inoculum was low (3 × 103 CFU/ml). When the vancomycin MICs were high, all strains were detected as early as at 18 h. However, 30 h was a conservative time point for finalizing the analysis of chromogenic cultures.
Conclusion: These results suggested that the WASPLab automated incubation could allow decreasing the initial incubation time to 18 h, followed by an intermediate time at 24 h and a final incubation period of 30 h for VRE culture screening, to deliver rapid results without affecting the analytical sensitivity.