title: Rapid identification of Staphylococcus aureus in blood cultures by thermonuclease testing.
abstract: The detection of thermonuclease activity in 86 blood culture samples containing gram-positive cocci showed 100% correlation with the subsequent identification of the isolate as Staphylococcus aureus by the coagulase test. No positive thermonuclease results were found with 66 samples containing coagulase-negative staphylococci and 56 samples containing other gram-positive organisms. The thermonuclease test provides a rapid, reliable method to identify S. aureus in blood cultures.
mesh_terms: D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008836:Micrococcal Nuclease / Q000032:analysis*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D008836:Micrococcal Nuclease