TABLE 2.

Sensitivities and specificities of MRSA Select and mannitol-salt agar with cefoxitin for all specimens by specimen type after 18 to 24 h and 48 h of incubation

Specimen type (no. of specimens) [no. of MRSA]	Medium	Sensitivity (%) after incubation for:		Specificity (%) after incubation for:
		18-24 h	48 h	18-24 h	48 h
Overall (6,199) [181]	MRSA Select	93a	98b	99.5	92a
	Mannitol-salt agar with cefoxitin	69a	90b	92	78a
Catheter exit site samples (647) [14]	MRSA Select	100	100	99.8	97
	Mannitol-salt agar with cefoxitin	50	86	98	90
Nares swabs (2,483) [57]	MRSA Select	90	97	99.6	93
	Mannitol-salt agar with cefoxitin	70	95	97	89
Perianal/rectal swabs (2,312) [64]	MRSA Select	97	100b	99.3	90
	Mannitol-salt agar with cefoxitin	66	86b	85	58
Sputum samples (58) [4]	MRSA Select	100	100	100	94
	Mannitol-salt agar with cefoxitin	50	75	100	93
Skin/soft tissue samples (632) [42]	MRSA Select	91	95	99.5	95
	Mannitol-salt agar with cefoxitin	81	93	96	85

^aThe values are significantly different for the two media (P < 0.0001).

^bThe values are significantly different for the two media (P = 0.003).