Comparison of chromogenic media for recovery of carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae (CPE) and evaluation of CPE prevalence at a tertiary care academic medical center.

We evaluated the performance characteristics of chromID CARBA and HardyCHROM Carbapenemase for the detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE). A CPE prevalence study was conducted using chromID CARBA; this demonstrated that in low-prevalence settings, CPE screening agars may lack specificity, and confirmation of putative isolates is necessary.