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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2002, p. 1573, Vol. 40, No. 4
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.4.1573.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Detection of Staphylococci with Reduced Susceptibility to Glycopeptides


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LETTER
 
As pointed out by Dr. Walsh and colleagues in the July 2001 issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (4), the detection of staphylococci with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin is an important issue for clinical laboratories. In their study, Dr. Walsh et al. evaluated several methods for detection of these strains using a population-analysis profile-area under the curve ratio method as their "gold standard." Two NCCLS reference methods, broth microdilution and agar dilution, were included in their analysis. They state that both were performed "precisely" as described in the most recent NCCLS document, M7-A5 (2, 3). However, the incubation time for both tests in their study was only 18 h, whereas current NCCLS recommendations specify that tests for both oxacillin and vancomycin should be incubated for a full 24 h. We suspect that the sensitivity of both reference methods would have improved had the readings been made at 24 h rather than at 18 h as was done in their study. Incubation for a full 24 h appears to be important not just for NCCLS reference microdilution susceptibility tests but also for primary isolation plates (1), as pointed out in a study by other investigators in the same issue of the journal.


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REFERENCES
 
    1
  1. Marlowe, E., M. Cohen, J. F. Hindler, K. Ward, and D. A. Bruckner. 2001. Practical strategies for detecting and confirming vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus: a tertiary-care hospital laboratory’s experience. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39:2637-2639.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
    2. 2
  2. NCCLS. 2000. Methods for dilution antimicrobial susceptibility tests for bacteria that grow aerobically; approved standard, 5th ed. NCCLS Document M7-A5. NCCLS, Wayne, Pa.
    3. 3
  3. NCCLS. 2001. Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing; eleventh informational supplement. NCCLS Document M100-S11. NCCLS, Wayne, Pa.
    4. 4
  4. Walsh, T., A. Bolmstrom, A. Qwarnstrom, P. Ho, M. Wootton, R. Howe, A. MacGowan, and D. Diekema. 2001. Evaluation of current methods for detection of staphylococci with reduced susceptibility to glycopeptides. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39:2439-2444.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
Mary Jane Ferraro
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114

Jana M. Swenson
Fred C. Tenover
Anti-infectives Investigation Section,Epidemiology and Laboratory Branch,Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,Atlanta, Georgia 30333


Ed. Note:


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LETTER 
 
The authors of the published article did not respond.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2002, p. 1573, Vol. 40, No. 4
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.4.1573.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




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