title: New identification characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on chromogenic culture media.
abstract: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most common and important causes of nosocomial infections. Rapid detection of this pathogen is important for conducting good and swift infection control. This prospective study evaluates two chromogenic media for the detection of MRSA. New colony characteristics were noticed during this evaluation: (i) a yellow/golden colouration on a pipette after streaking the colonies of the chromogenic culture could eventually be used as a supplementary identification test to identify the MRSA strains, and (ii) some MRSA strains do not metabolise the chromogens and therefore are not coloured on chromogenic agars. However, they have a typical yellow/golden colony aspect usually observed amongst S. aureus.
authors.affiliation: Dpt of Microbiology, Sint Pieter University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium. Sigi_Vandenwijngaert@stpierre-bru.be
authors.forename: Sigi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van den Wijngaert
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vandenberg
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scheen
authors.forename: Mireille
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Husson
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dediste
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002440:Cefoxitin; D002863:Chromogenic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology; D003470:Culture Media; D006801:Humans; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D002863:Chromogenic Compounds; D003470:Culture Media; D002440:Cefoxitin