Abstract
Objectives:Taking the determination of mecA gene by polymerized chain reaction (PCR) method as a reference in determining methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus species, we aimed at comparing the reliability levels of disk diffusion, latex agglutination test and chromogenic agar use methods.Methods:This prospective study was conducted on 228 Staphylococcus strains isolated between January 2020 and December 2020 in Samsun Training and Research Hospital. Disk diffusion, latex agglutination and chromogen agar medium methods were applied along with the polymerized chain reaction (PCR) method.Results:The mecA gene was detected in 47 of the isolates (20.6%) by the PCR method, and these isolates were accepted as methicillin-resistant. When the PCR result was taken as a reference, the sensitivity of the disk diffusion method became 100%, and specificity became 45.9%; sensitivity of latex agglutination was determined as 80.9%, and specificity as 70.2%; sensitivity of chromogenic agar as 85.1% and its specificity was found to be 95%. Only in S. aureus isolates, the highest sensitivity and specificity rate (100% and 88%, respectively) belonged to chromogenic agar.Conclusion:Chromogenic agar provides more reliable data for S. aureus isolates, and the combined use of all three methods does not significantly increase reliability.
Highlights
Staphylococcus species are a member of the normal skin flora, they can cause a variety of infections ranging from simple wound infections to bacteremia and sepsis
We aimed at comparing the reliability levels of disk diffusion, latex agglutination test, and chromogenic agar methods, by taking the mecA gene detection by polymerized chain reaction (PCR) as a reference in determining methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus species
MecA gene was detected in 47 (20.6%) of the isolates by using PCR method and these isolates were accepted as methicillin-resistant (Fig. 2). 145 (63.6%) isolates were found to be methicillin-resistant by disk diffusion method, 92 (40.4%) were found resistant by latex agglutination, and 49 (21.5%) were found resistant by chromogenic agar (Table-I)
Summary
Staphylococcus species are a member of the normal skin flora, they can cause a variety of infections ranging from simple wound infections to bacteremia and sepsis. Staphylococci are among the most common isolated agents in wound infections. The type of these agents and their resistance to antibiotics are of great importance for determining the treatment of infections.[1,2,3] Despite the fact that coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species cause more frequent infections, Staphylococcus aureus is known to be more pathogenic due to its various enzymes and factors.[4,5]. Methicillin resistance is the most important factor in the management of infections caused by Staphylococcus and the selection of antimicrobials.
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