The etest performed directly on blood culture bottles is a reliable tool for detection of fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans isolates

Abstract

We assessed the ability of the Etest performed directly on positive blood cultures (ETDIR) to detect fluconazole susceptibility in 6 fluconazole-resistant and 12 fluconazole-susceptible Candida albicans isolates, according to CLSI M27-A3 and EUCAST EDef 7.2 procedures. Categorical agreement between ETDIR and broth microdilution was 100% when the trays were incubated at 25°C and trailing effect was ruled out. ETDIR is a reliable procedure when screening for the presence of fluconazole resistance in C. albicans.