News and Events

Please see below the product information update for MM83.

Indicator strain E. coli NCTC 12241 / ATCC 25922, currently used in the Modified Hodge Test for the detection of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) and metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae, is not optimal for testing Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, due to inhibition of the background lawn of the indicator strain by many test strains, leading to equivocal or indeterminate results and poor repeatability.

Attempts to improve performance by substituting the E. coli indicator strain with Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCTC 12903 / ATCC 27853 produces similarly poor performance – low sensitivity, low specificity and a high number of equivocal or indeterminate results.

If Klebsiella pneumoniae NCTC 13368 / ATCC 700603 (Selectrol strain MM83) is used as the indicator strain, indeterminate results are eliminated and sensitivity and specificity increased to 100% and 98% respectively. The test also shows 100% repeatability.

Making this change of indicator organism should result in improved detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates suspected of producing carbapenemases, including currently circulating KPCs and carbapenem susceptible MBLs. The recommendation is that the test should be used to screen all ceftazidime-resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with meropenem zone sizes of ≤23mm or MICs of ≥1 mg/l, an epidemiological breakpoint suggestive of carbapenemase production.

Reference: J. Clin. Micro December 2011 p4301-4303

‘Sensitive and specific Modified Hodge Test for KPC and Metallo-Beta-Lactamase Detection in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by Use of a Novel Indicator Strain, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603 (NCTC 13368)’

If you would like to download this article please visit www.journals.asm.org

TCS Biosciences Ltd has issued a technical guide on the microorganisms available in the Selectrol® range.

The document includes information on:

• Quality control of Selectrol® discs
• Key properties of Selectrol® organisms
• Preparing QC and validation spikes using Selectrol®

» Click here to view and/or download a copy of the document.

If you would like a hard copy please email marketing@tcsgroup.co.uk

The integration of HD Supplies into TCS Biosciences Ltd will be completed on 1 December 2010.

» View the changes that are going to be made (5mB).

» HD Supplies Information Page.

Product descriptions from page 20 and 21 have been amended to the following:

• HS430 Lugol's Iodine 10 x conc.
• HS485 Methyl Violet 6B 10 x conc.
• HS565 Neutral Red (Jensen) 10 x conc.
• HS762 Thiazine Red 10 x conc.
• HS142 Auramine/Phenol 10 x conc.
• HS165 Carbol Fuchsin (Gram) 10 x conc.
• HS220 Crystal Violet 10 x conc.
• HS307 Gram's Iodine 10 x conc.
• HS440 Malachite Green 10 x conc.
• HS505 Methyl Violet 6B 10 x conc.
• HS175 Carbol Fuchsin (ZN) conc.

Following the acquisition of DiaMed by Bio-Rad, please be aware of the following important product changes.

OptiMAL-IT and IT Leish will now be presented in packs of 24 individual tests. Please make the following changes to the product codes, descriptions and prices.

• ZF710024 OptiMAL-IT 24 test kit £65.00
• ZF710124 IT Leish 24 test kit £65.00

*These changes will be implemented in July 2010.

Please contact our Customer Service team if you have any questions.

» To view the article, click here.

A recent article has been published comparing Compact Dry™ with ISO methods. Compact Dry™ Plates were shown to be comparable with the reference methods and have been issued certificates of validation by NordVal.

» To see the full article, click here.

We now have the complete range of EUCAST recommended strains available in our Selectrol range.

Please click the link for more information www.tcsbiosciences.co.uk/eucast.

We are pleased to announce the addition of Salmonella nottingham NCTC7832 to the Selectrol^® range.

Salmonella nottingham is recommended by the HPA as the positive control in the detection of Salmonella species. Salmonella nottingham NCTC7832 is now recommended as a result of increased prevalence of the previously recommended Salmonella poona species in food samples.

Selectrol^® is a convenient source of viable micro-organisms which can be used for a variety of quality control and testing applications that are guaranteed to be a first generation derivative of the original NCTC strain.

For more information and full strain listing please click here.

Selectrol^® batches are tested for a wide range of identification and characterisation attributes in our UKAS accredited testing laboratory, number 2496. A test report for each batch of Selectrol^® is available via this website.

The reporting of the test results via the web forms part of the UKAS accredited system.

Selectrol® discs are manufactured exclusively from NCTC (NATIONAL COLLECTION OF TYPE CULTURES) and NCPF (NATIONAL COLLECTION OF PATHOGENIC FUNGI) cultures and are guaranteed first generation derivatives from the source strain.

Small print: NCTC and the National Collection of Type Cultures are trade marks of the Health Protection Agency.

Until recently, the manual immunomagnetic separation (IMS) procedure was the only step in the DWI approved Cryptosporidium method which had not been improved. TCS Water Sciences has now developed a semi automated IMS system, Isolate^®, based on a kit developed by ImmuCell Corporation, USA.

Isolate^® is a unique product offering semi automated immunomagnetic separation (IMS) of Cryptosporidium oocysts in environmental water samples. Isolate^® is able to process pellets of up to 2 ml in volume, significantly reducing the need for split samples, and yields good recoveries even in dirty water samples. The automation of the Isolate^® test standardises the rocking motion, eliminating human error and achieving improved consistency and reliability of results.

Cryptosporidium oocysts in the concentrate are captured and separated by magnetic action. Separated oocysts are stained with an approved FITC antibody stain, and visualised by fluorescence microscopy.

TCS Water Sciences compliments the Isolate^® Cryptosporidium test by offering a range of high quality Cryptosporidium testing products; our expertise in the field of Cryptosporidium enables us to offer you technical support and advice. TCS offers exceptional levels of customer service to ensure you get what you want when you want it.

The following table shows the results of a study which compared the Isolate^® system with a manual IMS test. Isolate^® achieved considerably improved results with increased recovery of Cryptosporidium, and greater consistency, evidenced by the narrower data ranges. The results highlight the sensitivity of the manual method to operator technique and thus the superiority of automation.

Materials supplied by TCS Water Sciences:

• Isolate^® Cryptosporidium 100 Test Kit (ZAICS100)
• Isolate^® Rotator Disc and Hub (ZAICS2)
• Incu-Clip (ZAICS3), Magna-Clip (ZAICS4), Micro-Clip (ZAICS5)
• Dissociation Block (ZAICS8)
• Variable speed rotator (ZAICSI)
• Glass Leighton tubes (ZAICS6)

• Visit the Isolate^® page
• Download this article (pdf)

New, from Cellabs, Cryptosporidium IFA 15 Minute stain.

High-definition monoclonal diagnostic test for rapid detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in human faecal samples as well as water and sewage samples.

Cellabs are specialists in waterborne infections and are pleased to introduce this high performance diagnostic kit which enables the rapid detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts. The monoclonal antibody reacts specifically with the oocyst cell wall to give a clearly defined morphology, making accurate diagnosis possible.

No need for revalidation, DWI approved.

• Download more information here (pdf)