International multicenter evaluation of latex agglutination tests for identification of Staphylococcus aureus.
A newly marketed rapid agglutination kit for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus, Slidex Staph Plus (bioMérieux), was compared to Staphaurex Plus (Murex Diagnostics) and Pastorex Staph-Plus (Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur). The study took place in three clinical microbiology laboratories in three different European countries. A total of 892 staphylococcal isolates, including 278 methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) isolates, 171 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates, and 443 coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates, were analyzed. The sensitivities (MSSA/MRSA) and specificities, respectively, were 98. 2% (98.9%/97.1%) and 98.9% for Slidex Staph Plus, 98.2% (98.2%/98. 2%) and 96.2% for Staphaurex Plus, and 98.7% (98.6%/98.8%) and 95.7% for Pastorex Staph Plus. The specificity of the Slidex Staph Plus kit was statistically significantly higher than the specificities of Staphaurex Plus and Pastorex Staph-Plus. The Slidex Staph Plus is a very reliable test for the identification of S. aureus.
van Griethuysen
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Department of Clinical Microbiology, St. Elisabeth Hospital, Tilburg, The Netherlands. AvanGriethuysen@Rijnstate.nl
Bes
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Etienne
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Zbinden
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Kluytmans
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D003030:Coagulase / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D008712:Methicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010406:Penicillins / Q000494:pharmacology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification
D003030:Coagulase; D010406:Penicillins; D008712:Methicillin