Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and antimicrobial drug dosage
Prescott, J.F.; Baggot, J.D.
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 187(4): 363-368
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-1488 PMID: 4030470 Document Number: 257531
This paper is a detailed reply to Woolcock & Mutimer [Veterinary Record (1983) 113, 125-128] who questioned the value of routine disk diffusion tests in veterinary medicine. The following points are made. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is generally a reproducible quantitative characteristic of a bacterial isolate that can be measured readily, though because of the degree of imprecision and ambiguity the four-category interpretation of medical MIC data could well be adopted as veterinary guidelines. Adoption of the Kirby-Bauer procedure in veterinary laboratories would be a useful advance. The relationship of dosage to severity of infection remains to be defined, and the ultimate criterion for optimal drug dose must remain the clinical trial or response in experimental infections.