On the basis of our results, it appears that the disc diffusion test is a useful method for testing the activity of voriconazole against Aspergillus spp.

We compared the Etest with a broth microdilution method, performed according to a modified National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards guideline (M38-A), for determining the in vitro susceptibility of 77 isolates of Aspergillus spp. (26 A. fumigatus, 21 A. flavus, 10 A. terreus, 9 A. niger, 5 A. nidulellus, 4 A. glaucus, and 2 A. flavipes isolates). Overall, there was 92.2% agreement between both methods when Etest MICs were read at 24 h and 83.1% agreement when both methods were read at 48 h. When Etest MICs were read at 24 h, the agreement was >90% for all species tested except for A. fumigatus (84.6%). When Etest MICs were read at 48 h, the agreement ranged from 50 to 100%. The poorest agreement was seen with A. glaucus (50%) and A. fumigatus (65%). Where a discrepancy was observed between Etest and the reference method, the Etest MIC was generally higher. The Etest appears to be a suitable alternative procedure for testing the susceptibility of Aspergillus spp. to voriconazole.

Sertaconazole is a new azolic derivative containing a benzo(b)thiophene group, for topical use. It showed in vitro fungistatic and fungicidal activity against yeasts, dermatophytes, opportunistic filamentous fungi and Gram-positive bacteria. In this study, we have evaluated the activity of sertaconazole in vitro against 215 strains of Candida spp. Fluconazole and ketoconazole were used throughout as reference compounds. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined in Casitone medium and the breakpoint was obtained spectrophotometrically and visually. Visual reading of MICs correlated with the spectrophotometric determination, the values of MIC₅₀ and MIC₉₀ showed no difference ( ± 1 dilution) in any of the species tested (range 0.1-16 mg/l). These results show that sertaconazole is an excellent antifungal agent and fungicide in vitro against various species of Candida.