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	Can growth from a Kirby Bauer plate (or Etest plate) be used to make the inoculum to set additional disks or strips? Occasionally, for who knows what reason, the only 18 -24 hours old plate of isolate available is the Kirby or etest Mueller-Hinton. I'm uncomfortable when I see this plate being used for more testing. Am I being to cautious?
	I see no reason that growth from an agar diffusion susceptibility test plate could not be used as the inoculum for additional testing. Picking growth from the edge of the plate, as far from a disk or strip as possible would be prudent. In order to insure that there is no antibiotic effect on your inoculum for additional testing you could inoculate broth and allow the organism to grow for several hours to a density of a McFarland 0.5. This practice would not produce an additional delay in patient testing. We hope that we were able to answer your question. Please visit us again at the American Society for Microbiology. DISCLAIMER Askit is for general information purposes only and may not be relied upon by users for decisions or action in specific circumstances. Neither ASM nor the expert assures the accuracy or completeness of information provided. Questions are answered based on current information, which may change over time. Please note the date that a question was answered. If an answer is more than one year old, you may want to resubmit the question for an updated answer. The advice and comments do not necessarily reflect the views of ASM. ASM and INDIVIDUAL experts expressly disclaim any and all liability for any direct, indirect, or special damages or loss of any nature incurred as a consequence of use of this site or any advice or comment by any expert. By using Askit, the user accepts the waiver of claims and all terms of use of ASM�s site, including the disclaimers set forth in the �Legal Rights� link on ASM�s home page.

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