Can carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae susceptibility results obtained from surveillance cultures predict the susceptibility of a clinical carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae?

We evaluated the susceptibility profile of a colonizing carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae to predict its susceptibility when recovered from a clinical specimen. An overall agreement of 88.7% (517 out of 583; 95% confidence interval, 85.8%-91.0%) was observed for the combinations of 11 antibiotics with 53 pairs of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing K pneumoniae (the only carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae detected). Very major errors were observed mainly for aminoglycoside agents and colistin, limiting the predictability of the susceptibility profile for these clinical isolates. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc.