MRSA Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about MRSA, including details on methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, hospitals, infection, antibiotic resistance, superbugs.

Evaluation of the TPX MRSA assay for the detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Stenholm T, Hakanen AJ, Salmenlinna S, Pihlasalo S, Härmä H, Hänninen PE, Huovinen P, Vuopio J, Kotilainen P

Department of Medicine, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 4-8, 20520, Turku, Finland, tejust@utu.fi.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a new type of assay for the phenotypic detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The assay is based on a point-of-care compatible two-photon excitation fluorescence detection technology (TPX). A collection of 243 epidemic MRSA isolates was tested in addition to 138 sporadic MRSA and 101 negative control strains. The assay proved to be both sensitive (97.9%) and specific (94.1%) in the identification of MRSA, with adequate positive (98.4%) and negative (92.2%) predictive values. The time required for obtaining a positive test result was less than 14 h for 99.0% of the MRSA true-positive samples. After a test run, the selectively enriched reaction mixtures may be recovered and further studied by molecular or standard phenotypic methods. The main benefits of the TPX methodology include a simple assay procedure, low reagent consumption, and a high-throughput capacity.

Published 4 April 2011 in Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis.
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