At a Glance Why Get Tested? When to Get Tested? As follow-up to
a positive bacterial or fungal culture; when you have an
infection and one or more types of bacteria or fungi have been
grown and isolated in a culture from a sample obtained from the
site of suspected infection; when your infection is not
responding to treatment A sample of a pure culture of bacteria
or fungi grown and isolated from an infected body site Test
Preparation Needed? The Test Sample What is being tested?
Susceptibility is a term used to describe the condition in which
microorganisms are unable to grow in the presence of one or more
antimicrobial drugs. Susceptibility testing determines the
potential effectiveness of an antimicrobial agent on the
organism causing an infection and/or determines if the organism
has developed resistance to certain antibiotics. The results of
this test can be used to predict the potential effect in the
patient. Although viruses are microorganisms, testing for their
resistance to antiviral drugs is perform