European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing
{{Short description|Scientific committee}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox company
| name = European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing
| logo = EUCAST logo.gif
| logo_size = 300px
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| type = Nonprofit organization
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| founded = {{Start date and age|1997|05|25}}
| founders =
| hq_location = EUCAST Development Laboratory
| hq_location_city = Central Hospital Växjö
| hq_location_country = Sweden
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| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = {{Plainlist|
- Christian Giske (Chairman)
- John Turnidge (Scientific Secretary)
}}
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| website = {{URL|http://eucast.org/}}
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European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) is a scientific committee for defining guidelines to interpret antimicrobial resistance.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(14)62843-3/fulltext|doi = 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2006.01454.x|title = European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) Technical Notes on antimicrobial susceptibility testing|year = 2006|last1 = Kahlmeter|first1 = G.|last2 = Brown|first2 = D.F.J.|last3 = Goldstein|first3 = F.W.|last4 = MacGowan|first4 = A.P.|last5 = Mouton|first5 = J.W.|last6 = Odenholt|first6 = I.|last7 = Rodloff|first7 = A.|last8 = Soussy|first8 = C-J.|last9 = Steinbakk|first9 = M.|last10 = Soriano|first10 = F.|last11 = Stetsiouk|first11 = O.|journal = Clinical Microbiology and Infection|volume = 12|issue = 6|pages = 501–503|pmid = 16700696|doi-access = free}} It was formed in 1997 and is jointly organized by ESCMID, ECDC and other European laboratories.{{cite web|url=http://eucast.org/|title=EUCAST: EUCAST|author=|date=|website=eucast.org|accessdate=23 May 2019}}
EUCAST guidelines are one of the most popular breakpoint guidelines used in antimicrobial susceptibility testing worldwide.{{cite journal |last1=Kassim |first1=Ali |title=Comparison of Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute and European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing guidelines for the interpretation of antibiotic susceptibility at a University teaching hospital in Nairobi, Kenya: a cross-sectional study |journal=Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob |volume=15 |pages=21 |date=11 April 2016 |doi=10.1186/s12941-016-0135-3 |pmid=27068515 |pmc=4827198 |doi-access=free }} The EUCAST guidelines are freely available to all of their users.
Like the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, EUCAST offers guidelines to interpret raw minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), the lowest concentration of a chemical, usually a drug, which prevents visible growth of bacterium. The interpretation to antimicrobial resistance (reported as "R") or antimicrobial susceptibility (reported as "S") differs for all bug-drug combinations which is why guidelines are needed.