BacterChrom™ CRE Agar Plates

Ready-to-use chromogenic medium on 90mm plates for detecting and isolating carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae
Code: 01006
Packaging: 10 plates/box or as per customer requirements.
Storage Conditions: 2–8°C.
Transportation: Ambient temperature.
Shelf Life: 03 months from the date of manufacture.

INTENDED USE

BacterChromTM CRE Agar is a chromogenic screening medium designed for the presumptive identification of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, including E. coli and the KESC group (Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Serratia, and Citrobacter), directly from clinical samples, in 18 hours. It facilitates the early detection of CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae) to aid in timely patient management and infection control measures.
The packaging with semi-permeable Cellophane film helps balance the humidity of the environment during storage.

PRINCIPLES

BacterChromTM CRE Agar makes detecting CRE-colonized patients easy. The formulation contains a modified carbapenem at a level recommended by both EUCAST and CLSI, ensuring reliable results with a wide variety of carbapenem-resistant organisms, including New Delhi Mettalo β-lactamase -1 (NDM-1).
The two-chromogen system differentiates E. coli (pale pink) from the KESC group organisms, which grow blue. Other carbapenem-resistant organisms not from the Enterobacteriaceae family, e.g. Acinetobacter, may grow, but they produce white or naturally pigmented colonies which are easy to spot against the novel turquoise background.
The novel background makes the white or naturally pigmented colonies of non-CRE organisms, like Acinetobacter, easy to spot, all of which means you can screen for CRE direct from patient samples in just 18 hours.

Allow the plates to reach room temperature before inoculation., dry the plates in an incubator with the covers partially removed.
Inoculate the medium directly with clinical samples, such as rectal screening swabs, faecal samples or from an isolated colony prepared as a liquid suspension.
Incubate the plates at 37°C for 18 – 24 hours.
If no growth is observed, re-incubate for an additional 24 hours.

RESULTS

After incubation, examine the plates for colony growth:
- Pale pink colonies are presumptive positive for carbapenem-resistant coli
- Blue colonies for carbapenem-resistant KESC group.
- Resistant Proteus, Morganellaand Providencia produce tan colonies with a brown halo through the tryptophan deaminase (TDA) reaction.
- Colorless or naturally pigmented colonies may represent non-Enterobacteriaceae, such as Acinetobacter spp.

BacterLab ensures the quality of each product batch by testing with ATCC reference strains.