title: Screening method for detecting staphylococci with reduced susceptibility to teicoplanin.
abstract: The incidence of infections caused by staphylococci with decreased susceptibility to teicoplanin (MIC>/=8 microg/ml) is increasing, but the disk diffusion test has difficulty detecting this low level of resistance. In addition, detection is complicated because of the heterogeneous phenotypes for teicoplanin. In this study, we evaluated an agar screening method to detect staphylococci with decreased susceptibility to teicoplanin or heterogeneous resistance. First, to investigate the inoculum density and teicoplanin concentration of screening agar, we used 10(5) and 10(6) CFU/ml and Mueller-Hinton agars supplemented with 6 and 8 microg of teicoplanin/ml to test 39 genetically distinct staphylococcal strains (15 strains with teicoplanin MICs>/=8 microg/ml and 24 strains with teicoplanin MICs</=4 microg/ml). On the basis of the results obtained, a final inoculum of 10(6) CFU/spot and a teicoplanin concentration of 8 microg/ml were selected. By this screening method, all strains having teicoplanin MICs>/=8 microg/ml or showing heteroresistance could be detected. These findings indicate that the method can be used as a reliable screening method for detecting staphylococci with reduced susceptibility to teicoplanin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pathology, College of Medicine, the Catholic University of Korea, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, 505 Banpo-dong Seocho-ku, Seoul, South Korea. yjpk@cmc.cuk.ac.kr
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003470:Culture Media; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000187:drug effects*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000187:drug effects; D017334:Teicoplanin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003470:Culture Media; D017334:Teicoplanin