Comparison in rapid detections of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Objective To compare several methods for the rapid detection of methicillin resistant StaphylOCOCCUS aureus(MRSA).Methods Forty-four Staphylococcus aureus isolates from Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital(TMUCIH)were detected by Oxacillin Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method,Cefoxitin Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method,Oxacillin micro-broth dilution method,E tests and PBP2a Latex agglutinaltion assay.These above results were compared with PCR analysis.Results PCR analysis showed that 36 MRSA strains containing mecA was identified.Thirty-two MRSA strains were detected by Oxacillin Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method,Cefoxitin Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method and Oxacillin micro-broth dilution method.Compared with PCR analysis,the sensitivity and specificity is 88.9%and 100%respectively.Thirty-three MRSA strains were identified by E test,with the sensitivity of 88.9%and specificity of 87.5%.Twenty-nine MRSA strains were identified by PBP2a latex agglutination assay with the sensitivity of 80.5%and specificity of 100%.Conclusions The turnaround time of PBP2a Latex agglutination assay could be reduced 24 h compared with other methods for detection of MRSA.This rapid,convenient and specific method could be applied in clinical laboratories for MRSA detection. Key words: Methicillin resistance; Staphylococcus aureus; Polymerase chain reaction; Microbial sensitivity tests