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.

Reductions in workload and reporting time by use of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus screening with MRSASelect medium compared to mannitol-salt medium supplemented with oxacillin.

Lagacé-Wiens PR, Alfa MJ, Manickam K, Harding GK

Clinical Microbiology, Saint-Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2H 2A6, Canada. plagacewiens@hotmail.com

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a significant pathogen in both nosocomial and community settings, and screening for carriers is an important infection control practice in many hospitals. In this retrospective study, we demonstrate that the implementation of an MRSA screening protocol using a selective chromogenic medium (MRSASelect) reduced the workload for this screening test by 63.7% overall and by 12.6% per specimen and reduced the turnaround time for reporting by an average of 1.33 days for all MRSA screening specimens, 1.97 days for MRSA-positive specimens, and 1.3 days for MRSA-negative specimens compared to standard mannitol-salt agar supplemented with 6 mg of oxacillin/liter.

Published 4 April 2008 in J Clin Microbiol, 46(4): 1174-7.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Staphylococcus Research Today. All Rights Reserved.