title: Susceptibility to desferrioxamine: a new test for the identification of Staphylococcus epidermidis.
abstract: The ability to identify Staphylococcus epidermidis quickly and accurately has become increasingly important in clinical microbiology. Susceptibility to desferrioxamine, an iron-chelating agent, was investigated as a new test for the identification of S. epidermidis. All strains of S. epidermidis and S. hominis tested were susceptible to a 1000-micrograms disk of desferrioxamine when grown on brain heart infusion agar. All other strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci, S. aureus and micrococci were resistant. As a single test, susceptibility to desferrioxamine was 96.4% efficient in identifying S. epidermidis; when combined with additional tests such as alkaline phosphatase production and fermentation of trehalose, the efficiency improved to 100%. Desferrioxamine disks were easy to prepare, stable and inexpensive. The test was simple to perform and interpret and should readily find application in clinical microbiology laboratories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Riley
mesh_terms: D003470:Culture Media; D003676:Deferoxamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D003676:Deferoxamine