Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2000, p. 2378-2380, Vol. 38, No. 6
Department of Microbiology and Infectious
Diseases, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Concord
2139,1 Department of Biological
Sciences, Macquarie University, Concord 2109,2
and Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Sydney, 2006 Sydney,3 New South
Wales, Australia
Received 13 September 1999/Returned for modification 13 November
1999/Accepted 15 February 2000
This paper describes a new chromogenic plate medium, CHROMagar
Staph aureus (CHROMagar, Paris, France), for the identification of
Staphylococcus aureus on the basis of colony pigmentation. The abilities of CHROMagar Staph aureus, thermostable nuclease (DNase),
and mannitol salt agar (MSA) to identify S. aureus isolates (n = 114) and discriminate between S. aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS;
n = 22) were compared. CHROMagar Staph aureus proved
to be more sensitive and specific than DNase and MSA, allowing a
reliable, simple, and rapid method for the identification of S. aureus isolates. All CoNS encountered in this study with the exception of S. chromogenes could be easily differentiated
from S. aureus on this medium. The supplementation with 4 µg of oxacillin or methicillin per ml allowed simple identification
of methicillin resistance in hospital-acquired S. aureus
strains which show multiple-drug resistance profiles.
Community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains
showing non-multi-drug resistance profiles require further evaluation
on this new chromogenic medium. Methicillin or oxacillin resistance of
all S. aureus isolates was confirmed by the detection of
penicillin-binding protein 2a, encoded by the mecA gene,
using the latex slide agglutination MRSA-Screen test (PBP 2' Test,
DR900M; Oxoid).
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
New Chromogenic Identification and Detection of
Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-Resistant
S. aureus
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Concord Repatriation General
Hospital, Hospital Rd., Concord 2139, New South Wales, Australia.
Phone: (612) 9767 6658. Fax: (612) 9767 7868. E-mail:
john{at}micr.crg.cs.nsw.gov.au.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. | Clin. Microbiol. Rev. |
|---|---|
| Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |
|---|