Patent ID: 8785148

Claim:
A method for determining sensitivity of bacteria to an antibiotic, the method comprising: (a) immobilizing the bacteria from a bacterial suspension by covalent attachment to a solid support, (b) contacting said immobilized bacteria with an agent comprising a reporter moiety, which preferentially binds to damaged bacterial cells, (c) subjecting said immobilized bacteria to a stressor in the presence of an antibiotic without the need for bacterial growth phase, (d) detecting a signal from said reporter moiety in said immobilized bacteria wherein said detecting is performed between 1 and 30 minutes from contacting said covalently immobilized bacteria with the stressor in the presence of the antibiotic, and (e) comparing the signal from said immobilized bacteria in the presence of the antibiotic to a control comprising immobilized bacteria subjected to the stressor in the absence of the antibiotic, wherein detection of an increase in said signal in the presence of an antibiotic compared to a control indicates that said bacteria are susceptible to said antibiotic, and wherein a signal that is comparable to the control in the presence of an antibiotic indicates that said bacteria are resistant to said antibiotic.