A microbiologist is preparing a Mueller-Hinton agar for disk diffusion testing and has inoculated the plate with the appropriate standardized inoculum.The microbiologist is interrupted by a phone call from a physician that takes 20 minutes to track the requested information.How should the technologist proceed with the disk diffusion testing?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The disk diffusion method is a standardized procedure.Once the inoculum is prepared it must be placed on the agar within 15 minutes.The reason for this is that bacteria can multiply and the inoculum would be too heavy and yield erroneous results.Also,once the inoculum is placed on the agar the disks must be placed on the agar within 15 minutes.Again,erroneous zones of inhibition could result because the bacteria are multiplying.Therefore,the technologist should begin anew for accurate results.

A Microbiologist Is Preparing a Mueller-Hinton Agar for Disk Diffusion