Evaluation of CHROMagar Staph aureus, a New Chromogenic Medium, for the Detection of Nosocomial Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
- Author:
Hyuck LEE
1
Author Information
1. Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
CHROMagar Staph aureus;
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
- MeSH:
Agar;
Delivery of Health Care;
Deoxyribonucleases;
Drug Resistance, Multiple;
Humans;
Mannitol;
Methicillin Resistance*;
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus*;
Micrococcal Nuclease;
Oxacillin;
Pigmentation;
Staphylococcal Infections;
Staphylococcus aureus
- From:Korean Journal of Infectious Diseases
2002;34(6):367-372
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus remains one of the most frequently encountered bacterial pathogens and is responsible for a variety of mild to life- threatening infections. There is a substantial body of evidence that individuals who are asymptomatic nasal carriers of S. aureus are at increased risk of developing serious staphylococcal infections. Approximately 20% to 30% of health care workers at any given time are also nasal carriers of S. aureus. A subset of these may spread the organism to patients by direct contact transmission. CHROMagar Staph aureus (CSA) is a new chromogenic medium for identification of S. aureus on the basis of colony pigmentation. METHODS: The abilities of CSA, thermostable nuclease (DNase), and mannitol salt agar (MSA) to identify S. aureus isolates (n=70) and discriminate between S. aureus and coagluase-negative staphylococci (CoNS; n=8) were compared. RESULTS: CSA 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 could be easily differentiated from S. aureus on the medium. The supplementation with 4 microgram/mL of oxacillin allowed simple identification of methicillin resistance in hospital acquired S. aureus strains which show multiple drug resistance profiles. CONCLUSION: CSA proved to be simple and reliable method for the identification of nasal carriers of S. aureus of health care workers.
