Comparison of the Microbact-12E and 24E systems and the API-20E system for the identification of Enterobacteriaceae.

The Microbact-24E and the Microbact-12E systems are two new miniaturized identification systems for the identification of organisms belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. These two systems were compared to the API-20E system for the identification of 352 fresh clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae. All three systems were easy to use and came complete with computerized profile registers to assist with final identification of the isolates. The Microbact-24E identified 98%, the API-20E and MB-12E identifying 94.3% and 88.6% respectively. Where different identifications were obtained with the Microbact-24E and API-20E conventional biochemical tests, motility and serology were performed. The Microbact-24E system proved to be a very accurate and convenient means of identifying members of the family Enterobacteriaceae.