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. 1995 Apr;39(4):982–984. doi: 10.1128/aac.39.4.982

Revised interpretation of oxacillin MICs for Staphylococcus epidermidis based on mecA detection.

C L McDonald 1, W E Maher 1, R J Fass 1
PMCID: PMC162666  PMID: 7786008

Abstract

In 1992 and 1993, at The Ohio State University Medical Center, a larger proportion of Staphylococcus epidermidis strains required oxacillin MICs of 1 to 2 micrograms/ml than did Staphylococcus aureus strains. mecA genotype was correlated with antimicrobial susceptibility for selected clinical S. epidermidis strains. All 14 strains that required oxacillin MICs of < or = 0.25 microgram/ml and 2 of 5 strains that required oxacillin MICs of 0.5 microgram/ml were susceptible by 1-microgram oxacillin disk test and were mecA negative. Three of 5 strains that required oxacillin MICs of 0.5 microgram/ml and all 18 strains that required oxacillin MICs of > or = 1.0 microgram/ml were resistant by oxacillin disk test and were mecA positive. Current National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards MIC interpretive criteria may underestimate methicillin resistance among S. epidermidis strains.

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Selected References

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