TABLE 1.

Performance of the VITEK 2 system for identification of gram-positive cocci compared to that of the API method

Taxon	No. of strains tested	No. (%)a of strains:
		Correctly identified	Identified with low discrimination	Misidentified	Not identified
Staphylococci
S. aureus	100	99 (99)		1 (1)
S. epidermidis	50	45 (90)	2 (4)		3 (6)
S. haemolyticus	23	21 (91.3)	2 (8.6)
S. hominis	7	4	3 (42.8)
S. saprophyticus	4	4
S. xylosus	2	2
S. capitis	5	4	1
S. simulans	5	3	1	1
S. cohnii	1	1
S. warneri	1	1
S. lugdunensis	1	0	1
S. sciuri	1	1
Total	200	185 (92.5)	10 (5.0)	2 (1.0)	3 (1.5)
Enterococci
E. faecalis	55	51 (92.7)	1 (1.8)	1 (1.8)	2 (3.6)
E. faecium	28	20 (71.4)	4 (14.3)	2 (7.1)	2 (7.1)
E. durans	4	1	2	1
E. gallinarum	2	2
Total	89	74 (83.1)	7 (7.9)	4 (4.5)	4 (4.5)
Streptococci
S. agalactiae	29	28 (96.5)			1 (3.4)
S. pneumoniae	66	64b (96.9)			2 (3.0)
Total for all gram-positive strains	384	351 (91.4)	17 (4.4)	6 (1.6)	10 (2.6)

^aPercentages were calculated for species for which more than 20 strains were tested.\

^bFourteen strains were identified as “low discrimination resolved” by a simple test (optochin test).