In: Biology
Describe the Kirby-Bauer test. What is it used for? How is it significant in the world of microbiology? Give examples of how to use the information it can give you.
Kirby-bauer test-it is agar diffusion test in of the antibiotic for the sensitivity of bacteria.
Used
Mainly it is used to check the sensitivity of bacteria.
It uses antibiotic discs to test the extent to which bacteria are affected by those antibiotics. .
It is practices of antibiotic-containing wafers or disks to test whether particular bacteria are vulnerable to specific antibiotics.
Method
Firstly, a pure culture of bacteria is remote from the patient. Then, a known quantity of bacteria are grown overnight on agar ( solid growth media) plates in the presence of a thin wafer that contains a known amount of a relevant antibiotic.
If the bacteria are susceptible to the particular antibiotic from a wafer, an area of clear media where bacteria are not able to grow surrounds the wafer, which is known as the zone of inhibition.
A larger zone of inhibition around an antibiotic-containing disk indicates that the bacteria are more sensitive to the antibiotic in the disk.
Signification in the world of microbiology
It is help in the detection of different bacteria
Example
Generally the clinicians can use KB test results to choose appropriate antibiotics to combat a particular infection in a patient.
Administering antibiotics that specifically target the particular bacteria that are causing the infection can avoid using broad-spectrum antibiotics, which target many types of bacteria.
Therefore, clinical application of KB testing results can decrease the frequency with which antibiotic-resistant bacteria evolve.
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