Staphylococcus Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Staphylococcus, including details on mrsa, hospitals, infection, antibiotic resistance, superbugs.

Cefoxitin disk diffusion screen for confirmation of oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates and utility in the clinical laboratory.

Sharp SE, Warren JA, Thomson RB

Kaiser Permenente, Department of Pathology, Regional Laboratory, Portland, OR, USA. susan.e.sharp@kp.org

One hundred Vitek-2 identified oxacillin resistant S. aureus (ORSA) isolates were tested by oxacillin screen-plate (OXA-plate) and cefoxitin disk (FOX-disk) for confirmation of oxacillin resistance. Ninety-five of 100 confirmed oxacillin resistant by both, 3 of 5 were oxacillin susceptible by both and mecA negative, and 2 of 5 were oxacillin susceptible by OXA-plate, resistant by FOX-disk and mecA positive. The FOX-disk out-performed the OXA-plate for ORSA confirmation and can be performed using standard laboratory techniques.

Published 4 January 2005 in Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis, 51(1): 69-71.
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