Evaluation of the MicroScan rapid neg ID3 panel for identification of Enterobacteriaceae and some common gram-negative nonfermenters

The MicroScan Rapid Neg ID3 panel (Dade Behring, Inc., West Sacramento, Calif.) is designed for the identification of gram-negative bacilli. We evaluated its ability to accurately identify Enterobacteriaceae that are routinely encountered in a clinical laboratory and glucose nonfermenting gram-negative bacilli. Using 511 stock cultures that were maintained at -70 degrees C and passaged three times before use, we inoculated panels according to the manufacturer's instructions and processed them in a Walk/Away instrument using version 22.01 software. The time to identification was 2 h and 30 min. All panel identifications were compared to reference identifications previously determined by conventional tube biochemicals. At the end of the initial 2.5-h incubation period, 405 (79.3%) identifications were correct. An additional 49 (9.6%) isolates were correctly identified after required additional off-line biochemical tests were performed. Thus, at 24 h, 88.8% of the 511 strains tested were correctly identified. Twenty-two (4.3%) were identified to the genus level only. Twenty-six (5.1%) strains were misidentified. Because the system is based on fluorogenics, there are no conventional tests readily available with which to compare possibly incorrect reactions. Of the 28 Salmonella strains that were tested, 5 were incorrectly reported. The 21 remaining errors were scattered among the genera tested. Testing on nine strains gave a result of "no identification" (very rare biotype). The Rapid Neg ID3 panel in this study approached 89% accuracy for the identification of gram-negative organisms encountered in the hospital laboratory.