Comparison of Disk Diffusion Test and Carba NP Test for Detecting Carbapenem Resistance in Gram Negative Bacilli in Tertiary Care Hospital

INTRODUCTION: Antimicrobial resistance is a global health security threat that requires action across government sectors and society as a whole. Carbapenems, once considered the last line of defense against serious infections with Enterobacteriaceae, are threatened with extinction. OBJECTIVE: Comparison between the disk diffusion method and Carba NP test for carbapenem resistance in gram negative bacilli. METHODS: Various clinical specimens collected from indoor and OPD were processed. Identification of the Gram negative organisms and carbapenem resistance was done by standard bacteriology techniques. All isolates were detected for carbapenemase production by disk-diffusion and Carba NP test. RESULTS: Out of 1670 samples, 935 (55.99 %) were found to be culture positive of which 485 (51.87 %) were gram negative bacteria. In our study 38 (7.83 %) were resistant to carbapenem whereas 447 (92.16 %) were susceptible by disk diffusion method whereas 58 (11.96 %) isolates were CNP positive and 427 (88.04 %) were CNP negative. CONCLUSION: Although enormous advancements in medical technology and services have occurred within the last two decades, antibiotic resistance has dramatically increased worldwide. Therefore, simple and affordable screening methods are required.