title: Frequency of susceptibility testing for patients with persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.
abstract: Currently, no standards exist for determining the optimal frequency of repeat antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) when an organism is recurrently isolated from the same specimen source. Although testing every 2 to 5 days is thought sufficient, we present three cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia where current laboratory protocol for repeating AST every 5 days was inadequate to identify resistant organisms.
authors.affiliation: David Geffen School of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Carmen L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Giltner
authors.forename: Theodoros
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kelesidis
authors.forename: Janet A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hindler
authors.forename: April M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bobenchik
authors.forename: Romney M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Humphries
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents