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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2000, p. 1587-1591, Vol. 38, No. 4
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of CHROMagar Staph. aureus, a New Chromogenic Medium, for Isolation and Presumptive Identification of Staphylococcus aureus from Human Clinical Specimens

Olivier Gaillot,* Muriel Wetsch, Nicolas Fortineau, and Patrick Berche

Laboratoire de Bactériologie-Virologie, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France

Received 27 September 1999/Returned for modification 13 November 1999/Accepted 11 December 1999

CHROMagar Staph. aureus (CSA) is a new chromogenic medium for presumptive identification of Staphylococcus aureus as mauve colonies after 24 h of incubation. We conducted a preliminary study with 100 S. aureus and 45 coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) stock isolates plated on CSA. All S. aureus isolates yielded mauve colonies after 24 h of incubation at 37°C, while CoNS isolates grew as blue, white, or beige colonies. Culture on CSA was then prospectively compared to a conventional laboratory method, i.e., culture on 5% horse blood agar (HBA), catalase test, and latex agglutination test (HBA-catalase-latex), for isolation and presumptive identification of S. aureus from 2,000 consecutive clinical samples. Among the 310 S. aureus isolates recovered by at least one of the two methods, 296 grew as typical mauve colonies on CSA, while only 254 yielded catalase-positive, latex-positive colonies on HBA. The sensitivity of CSA was significantly higher than that of the conventional method (95.5 and 81.9%, respectively; P < 0.001) and allowed the recovery of important clinical isolates that were undetected on blood agar. The specificities of the two methods were not significantly different, although that of CSA was slightly higher (99.4% versus 98.9% for HBA-catalase-latex; P = 0.08). On the basis of its excellent sensitivity and specificity, ease of identification of positive colonies, and absence of complementary testing, CSA can be recommended as a routine plating medium for presumptive identification of S. aureus in clinical specimens.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Bactériologie-Virologie, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, 149, rue de Sèvres, 75730 Paris CEDEX 15, France. Phone: (33) (1) 44 49 49 61. Fax: (33) (1) 44 49 49 60. E-mail: gaillot{at}necker.fr.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2000, p. 1587-1591, Vol. 38, No. 4
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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