Evaluation of phenotypic tests to detect carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in colonized patients hospitalized in intensive care units

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the performance of different phenotypic tests to detect carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Three different phenotypic methods were evaluated: (1) combined-disk test of meropenem plus phenylboronic acid or EDTA reading after 24 h and 48 h; (2) selective/chromogenic read after 24 h and after 48 h; and (3) overnight selective enrichment broth containing 10 µg ertapenem disk followed by culture on MacConkey agar. A positive result in at least one of the methods was submitted to PCR for blaNDM-1, blaOXA-48, blaKPC, blaSPM-1, blaIMP, and blaGES detection. C...