Evaluation of the rapid biochemical β-CARBA™ test for detection of carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative bacteria

We evaluated a rapid biochemical screening test β-CARBA™ for detection of Gram-negative carbapenemase producers. The sensitivity of the test after 30 min incubation was 98.2%, but increased to 100% after 1 h. β-CARBA™ proved reliable for carbapenemase screening in Acinetobacter spp. for which currently no commercial phenotypic assays are available.