Usefulness of a test for slime production as a marker for clinically significant infections with coagulase-negative staphylococci.
The usefulness of a test for slime production as a marker for clinically significant infections with coagulase-negative staphylococci and its implications for therapy were examined. Hospital records were reviewed for 59 patients from each of whom more than one isolate of coagulase-negative staphylococci was obtained. In patients with a prosthetic device, 81% of 59 infectious episodes were due to a slime-positive coagulase-negative staphylococci. In contrast, 22 noninfectious episodes (in which the organisms were contaminants) were equally distributed between episodes due to slime-positive or slime-negative isolates (P = .005). Only 32% of infections caused by slime-positive organisms, in contrast to 100% of infections caused by slime-negative organisms, were improved by treatment with antibiotics alone (P = .02). Prosthetic device removal in addition to antibiotic treatment significantly improved the outcome in patients with infections due to slime-positive organisms when compared with treatment with antibiotics alone (93% vs. 32% improvement; P = .00025).
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003030:Coagulase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006801:Humans; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D019736:Prostheses and Implants / Q000009:adverse effects; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003030:Coagulase; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial