BMC Microbiology (Sep 2006)

Evaluation of BacLite <it>Rapid </it>MRSA, a rapid culture based screening test for the detection of ciprofloxacin and methicillin resistant <it>S. aureus </it>(MRSA) from screening swabs

  • Skyrme Margaret,
  • Matthews Stuart,
  • Millar Michael R,
  • Johnson Gemma,
  • Marsh Peter,
  • Barringer Emma,
  • O'Hara Stephen,
  • Wilks Mark

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2180-6-83
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 1
p. 83

Abstract

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Abstract Background Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major nosocomial pathogen worldwide. The need for accurate and rapid screening methods to detect MRSA carriers has been clearly established. The performance of a novel assay, BacLite Rapid MRSA (Acolyte Biomedica, UK) for the rapid detection (5 h) and identification of hospital associated ciprofloxacin resistant strains of MRSA directly from nasal swab specimens was compared to that obtained by culture on Mannitol salt agar containing Oxacillin (MSAO) after 48 h incubation. Results A total of 1382 nasal screening swabs were tested by multiple operators. The BacLite Rapid MRSA test detected 142 out of the 157 confirmed MRSA that were detected on MSAO giving a diagnostic sensitivity of 90.4, diagnostic specificity of 95.7% and a negative predictive value of 98.7%. Of the 15 false negatives obtained by the BacLite Rapid MRSA test, seven grew small amounts ( Conclusion The Baclite MRSA test is easy to use and provides a similar level of sensitivity to conventional culture for the detection of nasal carriage of MRSA with the advantage that the results are obtained much more rapidly.