Rapid and automated screening of carbapenemase- and ESBL-producing Gram-negative bacteria from rectal swabs using chromogenic agar media and the ScanStation device

The ScanSation 100 device (Interscience, France) is an incubator allowing real-time detection of bacterial colony growth by frequently imaging agar plates over time, counting CFU, and detecting colony color. This study evaluated its performance for the early detection of carbapenemase-producing bacteria (CPB) and extended-spectrum β-Lactamase-producing bacteria (ESBL-PB) from rectal swabs inoculated on CHROMagar mSuperCARBA and ESBL media, respectively. Rectal screening ESwabs collected from patients admitted to Grenoble University Hospital between January and June 2021 were analyzed. After inoculation, chromogenic media were incubated for 24 h in the automaton, with image acquisition every 30 min. ScanStation results were compared to visual observations of the plates after 24 h of incubation. In total, 501 rectal swabs were tested. ScanStation showed 100% positive percent agreement (PPA) for the detection of CPB and ESBL-PB, whereas the PPA of color categorization ranged between 45% and 100%. Negative percent agreement (NPA) ranged between 70% and 98%. Negative predictive values (NPVs) were 100% for both bacterial groups, whereas positive predictive values (PPVs) were 70.3% for CPB and 81.0% for ESBL-PB. Importantly, real-time screening allowed detection of the first suspected colony within 10–14 h of growth, on average, whereas visual observation is usually only performed once a day after 18–24 h of incubation. Our study demonstrates the potential use of early images to accelerate the detection of CPB and ESBL-PB and implement effective and timely infection control measures. IMPORTANCE: The ScanStation 100 device is an incubator able to follow the real-time growth of bacterial colonies on agar plates through digital imaging, allowing users to sort plates according to the presence or absence of colonies, and to distinguish their color using four numeric color filters. Real-time screening shows that first colony detection is possible much earlier (after 10–14 h of growth, on average), whereas visual observation is usually performed only once a day after 18–24 h of incubation. The ScanStation device, combined with chromogenic agar media, is an efficient automated screening method to accelerate the detection of Gram-negative multidrug-resistant bacteria in laboratories that do not have access to larger laboratory automation systems. Our study shows that setting the image acquisition to one or two early images may allow for the detection of positive samples that were inoculated in the morning, by the end of the working day.