Abstract
Among naturally occurring strains of Staphylococcus aureus, resistance to penicillin G is observed only in those that produce penicillinase [1]. Strains lacking this enzyme are invariably highly sensitive to the action of penicillin. Elaboration of penicillinase thus appears to be the only clinically important mechanism of resistance to penicillin in these organisms [2]. A test for the activity of penicillinase that is rapid and simple enough to be employed in the clinical bacteriology laboratory would be useful as a guide to antibiotic therapy, since it would detect the substance actually responsible for resistance to penicillin. Several tests for detection of penicillinase have been devised [3-14], but most of them are too cumbersome or too time-consuming for routine hospital use. A simple plate test based on the iodometric assay originally described by Ferret [10] circumvents most of the disadvantages inherent in other methods. This test has been used by Anderson and Lewis in the investigation of resistance to ampicillin in Salmonella typhimurium [15], and by Novick and Richmond in genetic studies on S. aureus [16], but to our knowledge has not been employed for routine work in hospital bacteriology. This study was undertaken to investigate the usefulness of this test in the evaluation of strains of
Published Version
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