CLSI Blog Articles

Read the latest articles about CLSI and laboratory standards in the official CLSI Blog. Browse our most recent blog articles below.

Understanding Pharmacokinetics (PK) and Pharmacodynamics (PD)

This article was written by Patricia J. Simner, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Linda Miller, CMID Pharma Consulting, and was originally published in the AST News Update: Volume 3, Issue 1 Winter 2018.

Education Session | Epidemiological Cutoff Values (ECVs): Their Development and Use

Are you attending CLSI’s Committees Week in Dallas, Texas from January 25-30? Join us for an educational session on Saturday, January 27 from 5:00-7:00 PM Central (US) Time at the Westin Galleria Dallas. The topic is Epidemiological Cutoff Values (ECVs): Their Development and Use, and the presenters are leading experts in the field of microbiology.

CLSI Furthers Its Mission

Last month the US Food & Drug Administration launched a new website that will make it easier for prescribers to give their patients the most accurate antimicrobial treatment. They’ll base this information, in part, on the data provided in several of CLSI’s antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) standards. This new and improved way of providing breakpoint information to laboratories will help CLSI further its mission to develop clinical and laboratory practices and promote their use worldwide.

Combatting Antimicrobial Resistance

Over a dozen types of infections from bacteria in the United States are now resistant to all or nearly all known drugs. These include Clostridium difficile, which causes severe diarrhea; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and a strain of gonorrhea. Public health experts warn that left unchecked, antibiotic-resistant infections will surpass cancer as one of the world’s biggest killers, claiming 10 million deaths annually by 2050.

President's Message - December 2017

A message from CLSI President, Jack Zakowski, PhD, FACB, wishing CLSI members and volunteers a happy holiday season and welcoming incoming President Mr. Carl Mottram, RRT, RPFT, FAARC.

Today is World AIDS Day

Today, December 1, 2017, we acknowledge World AIDS Day. To complement the global World AIDS Day 2017 campaign which promotes the theme "Right to health,” the World Health Organization (WHO) will highlight the need for all 36.7 million people living with HIV and those who are vulnerable and affected by the epidemic, to reach the goal of universal health coverage. According to the WHO, Universal health coverage means that all people receive the health services they need without experiencing financial hardship, including access to the full range of HIV services. The World Health Organization is using the slogan “Everybody counts.”

CLSI Celebrates World Antibiotic Awareness Week With Elearning Opportunities

CLSI is offering several upcoming webinars for laboratory professionals on the topic of antibiotic susceptibility testing. Our webinars provide an efficient and cost-effective way to learn more about timely AST topics and updated CLSI documents.

World Antibiotic Awareness Week—November 13-19, 2017

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health threats in the world today. We celebrate World Antibiotic Awareness Week this week, November 13-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) is promoting its campaign with a webpage containing helpful fact sheets and videos about antimicrobial resistance, as well as fun interactive games and quizzes.

New Method for the Rapid Detection of Antibiotic Susceptibility for UTIs

According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, scientists have established a method to detect antibiotic susceptibility for urinary tract infections (UTI) in less than 30 minutes. UTIs account for nearly 8 million primary care visits every year. Traditional testing methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing can take up to several days, either lengthening the patient’s wait for treatment or resulting in the patient being prescribed inappropriate antibiotics while the health care provider is waiting for AST results.

Spotlight on the Benefits of MALDI-TOF MS Use for Microbial Identification

Although matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) technology has been in use in laboratories since its development by two German scientists in the late 1980s, it wasn’t given FDA clearance for diagnostic microbial identification in the medical lab until 2013.(1) The use of MALDI-TOF MS in the medical lab reduces the time between specimen collection and diagnosis.