Direct identification of Staphylococcus aureus from positive blood culture bottles.
Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes targeting Staphylococcus aureus 16S rRNA is a novel method for direct identification of S. aureus from positive blood culture bottles. The test (S. aureus PNA FISH) is performed on smears made directly from positive blood culture bottles with gram-positive cocci in clusters (GPCC) and provides results within 2.5 h. A blinded comparison of S. aureus PNA FISH with standard identification methods was performed in collaboration with eight clinical microbiology laboratories. A total of 564 routine blood culture bottles positive for GPCC recovered from both aerobic and anaerobic media from three different manufacturers (ESP, BACTEC, and BacT/Alert) were included in the study. The sensitivity and specificity of S. aureus PNA FISH were 100% (57 of 57) and 99.2% (116 of 117), respectively, with 174 GPCC-positive ESP blood culture bottles, 98.5% (67 of 68) and 98.5% (129 of 131), respectively, with 200 GPCC-positive BACTEC blood culture bottles, and 100% (74 of 74) and 99.1% (115 of 116), respectively, with 190 GPCC-positive BacT/Alert blood culture bottles. It is concluded that S. aureus PNA FISH performs well with commonly used continuously monitoring blood culture systems.
Oliveira
Kenneth
K
Applied Biosystems, Bedford, Boston , Massachusetts, USA.
Brecher
Stephen M
SM
Durbin
Annette
A
Shapiro
Daniel S
DS
Schwartz
Donald R
DR
De Girolami
Paola C
PC
Dakos
Joanna
J
Procop
Gary W
GW
Wilson
Deborah
D
Hanna
Chad S
CS
Haase
Gerhard
G
Peltroche-Llacsahuanga
Heidrun
H
Chapin
Kimberle C
KC
Musgnug
Michael C
MC
Levi
Michael H
MH
Shoemaker
Cynthia
C
Stender
Henrik
H
D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003470:Culture Media; D015342:DNA Probes; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D020135:Peptide Nucleic Acids; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
D003470:Culture Media; D015342:DNA Probes; D020135:Peptide Nucleic Acids