Question

Drug susceptibility testing determines ________.

A) the patient's response to various antimicrobials
B) the pathogen's response to various antimicrobials
C) if normal flora will be affected by antimicrobials
D) if the drug is increasing to toxic levels in a patient
E) None of the choices are correct.

Answer 1

Drug susceptibility testing assesses the pathogen's response to various antimicrobials using methods like the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test to guide the selection of effective antibacterial therapy. the correct option is B) the pathogen's response to various antimicrobials .

Step-by-step explanation:

Drug susceptibility testing determines B) the pathogen's response to various antimicrobials.

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is a process used in the clinical laboratory to assess the effectiveness of drugs against pathogens isolated from a patient. One of the common methods used for this testing is the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test, which involves using Mueller-Hinton agar plates inoculated with the bacterial pathogen.

Filter paper disks impregnated with antimicrobial drugs are placed on the plate and the zone of inhibition created by the drug is measured to determine the susceptibility of the pathogen. This information is crucial for choosing the appropriate antibacterial therapy and is used to monitor local trends in resistance, guiding empirical treatment choices.

Factors such as selective toxicity, spectrum of activity, and whether a drug is bactericidal or bacteriostatic play important roles in selecting the most suitable antimicrobial therapy.