We analyzed articles from major newspapers in the United States and Canada (1998-2002) to determine the extent to which articles presented information related to antibiotic resistance. Almost three quarters of the articles analyzed mentioned the problem of antibiotic resistance, but most did so in qualitative terms (e.g., stating that antibiotic-resistant bacteria were "increasingly present") rather than in numerical (e.g., "Twenty-five strains were resistant") or statistical terms (e.g., "Twenty-five out of 100 Streptococcus pneumoniae strains sampled were resistant to vancomycin"). Only one quarter of all articles contained information on two key risk-reduction measures people can take to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance: taking antibiotics only for bacterial infections, and taking the full course of a prescription. These findings suggest that the print media could improve their reporting on issues associated with antibiotic resistance.

An esculin hydrolysis test is described which distinguishes over 97% of bacteria that can convert esculin to esculetin in a buffered solution, from those that cannot, within an hour.

A number of bacteria hydrolyze esculin enzymatically to esculetin. This characteristic is used by taxonomists and clinical microbiologists in the differentiation and identification of bacteria, especially to distinguish Lance-field group D streptococci from non-group D organisms and Listeria monocytogenes from morphologically similar Erysipelothrix rhusipoathiae and diphtheroids. Conventional methods used for esculin hydrolysis require 4--48 h for completion. We developed and evaluated a medium which gives positive results more rapidly. The 2,330 isolates used in this study consisted of 1,680 esculin positive and 650 esculin negative organisms. The sensitivity and specificity of this method were compared with the PathoTec esculin hydrolysis strip and the procedure of Vaughn and Levine (VL). Of the 1,680 esculin positive organisms, 97% gave positive reactions within 30 minutes with the rapid test whereas PathoTec required 3--4 h incubation for the same number of organisms to yield a positive reaction.