title: Efficacies of rapid agglutination tests for identification of methicillin-resistant staphylococcal strains as Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Four commercially available rapid agglutination tests for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus were compared with the tube coagulase test for the identification of 300 methicillin-resistant isolates of staphylococci. Isolates tested included 207 methicillin-resistant S. aureus and 93 coagulase-negative staphylococci, collected from five medical centers. Strain variability was documented by phage typing and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Results of rapid identification tests ranged between 82 and 86% sensitivity, significantly poorer than the 98% sensitivity which the tube coagulase test provided.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Wilford Hall U.S. Air Force Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas 78236.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piper
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hadfield
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: McCleskey
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Friedstrom
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lauderdale
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Winn
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests; D003030:Coagulase; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D008712:Methicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D010403:Penicillin Resistance; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D003030:Coagulase; D008712:Methicillin