Korean J Clin Pathol.  1999 Dec;19(6):667-671.

Evaluation of Latex Agglutination Test Kit for Rapid Detection of Methicillin-Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

• Park YJ
• Oh EJ
• Youn JS
• Lee SO
• Na YJ
• Park JJ
• Kim BK

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The identification of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the clinical laboratory has been typically performed by using methods that detect phenotypic expression of resistance determinants. However, these methods are not always reliable since phenotypic expression of methicillin resistance is known to be heterogeneous. In this study, MRSA-Screen test (Denka Seiken Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), consisting of a slide latex agglutination kit that detects PBP 2a with a monoclonal antibody, was compared to the oxacillin disk diffusion test, the oxacillin-salt agar screen, agar dilution MIC and PCR of the mecA gene for the detection of methicillin resistance in S. aureus.
METHODS
A total of 48 MRSA and 46 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) clinical isolates, defined by the presence or absence of the mecA gene, respectively, were tested.
RESULTS
The MRSA-Screen test, the oxacillin disk diffusion test, and the oxacillin-salt agar screening test showed sensitivity of 97.9%, 93.8%, and 97.9% and specificity of 100% in all three tests.
CONCLUSION
We conclude that the MRSA-Screen test is very accurate, reliable and easy to perform for detection of methicillin resistance in S. aureus.

Keyword

Staphylococcus aureus; Latex agglutination; Methicillin-resistance; detection

MeSH Terms

Agar
Agglutination
Diffusion
Latex Fixation Tests*
Latex*
Mass Screening
Methicillin Resistance
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Oxacillin
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Sensitivity and Specificity
Staphylococcus aureus*
Staphylococcus*
Agar
Latex
Oxacillin