Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1994 Sep;32(9):2056–2059. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.9.2056-2059.1994

Evaluation of RapiDEC Staph for identification of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus.

W M Janda 1, K Ristow 1, D Novak 1
PMCID: PMC263941  PMID: 7814525

Abstract

RapiDEC Staph is a test for presumptive identification of the principal human staphylococcal species, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, and S. saprophyticus. The test includes control and test cupules for fluorogenic detection of coagulase and chromogenic substrates for alkaline phosphatase and beta-galactosidase. These tests identify S. aureus, S. epidermidis, and S. saprophyticus, respectively. Positive results with both chromogenic substrates provide a presumptive identification of S. xylosus or S. intermedius (S. xylosus-S. intermedius). Test cupules are inoculated with an organism suspension, and reactions are read after a 2-h incubation. RapiDEC-Staph was evaluated with 303 clinical and stock staphylococcal strains. Identifications were compared with those obtained by the tube coagulase test, a latex slide coagulase test (StaphAUREX), another commercial identification system (Staph-TRAC), and additional conventional tests. RapiDEC-Staph correctly identified 100% of 130 S. aureus strains, 70.3% of 74 S. epidermidis strains, and 81.3% of 32 S. saprophyticus strains. Four of five S. xylosus isolates were called S. xylosus-S. intermedius. Unidentified S. epidermidis and S. saprophyticus strains were called "Staphylococcus spp." Among the 62 other coagulase-negative staphylococci, 4 were misidentified as S. epidermidis and 7 were misidentified as S. saprophyticus. While the sensitivity and specificity of the fluorogenic coagulase test for S. aureus were 100%, failure to detect alkaline phosphatase activity in several S. epidermidis isolates resulted in fewer correct identifications by the RapiDEC-Staph test for this species.

Full text

PDF
2056

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aldridge K. E., Kogos C., Sanders C. V., Marier R. L. Comparison of rapid identification assays for Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 May;19(5):703–704. doi: 10.1128/jcm.19.5.703-704.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baker J. S., Bormann M. A., Boudreau D. H. Evaluation of various rapid agglutination methods for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1985 May;21(5):726–729. doi: 10.1128/jcm.21.5.726-729.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Berke A., Tilton R. C. Evaluation of rapid coagulase methods for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 May;23(5):916–919. doi: 10.1128/jcm.23.5.916-919.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fidalgo S., Vázquez F., Mendoza M. C., Pérez F., Méndez F. J. Bacteremia due to Staphylococcus epidermidis: microbiologic, epidemiologic, clinical, and prognostic features. Rev Infect Dis. 1990 May-Jun;12(3):520–528. doi: 10.1093/clinids/12.3.520. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fournier J. M., Boutonnier A., Bouvet A. Staphylococcus aureus strains which are not identified by rapid agglutination methods are of capsular serotype 5. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Jun;27(6):1372–1374. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.6.1372-1374.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fournier J. M., Bouvet A., Boutonnier A., Audurier A., Goldstein F., Pierre J., Bure A., Lebrun L., Hochkeppel H. K. Predominance of capsular polysaccharide type 5 among oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Oct;25(10):1932–1933. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.10.1932-1933.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fournier J. M., Bouvet A., Mathieu D., Nato F., Boutonnier A., Gerbal R., Brunengo P., Saulnier C., Sagot N., Slizewicz B. New latex reagent using monoclonal antibodies to capsular polysaccharide for reliable identification of both oxacillin-susceptible and oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 May;31(5):1342–1344. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.5.1342-1344.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Geary C., Stevens M. A rapid test to detect the most clinically significant Staphylococcus species. Med Lab Sci. 1991 Apr;48(2):99–105. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Geary C., Stevens M. Detection of phosphatase production by Staphylococcus species: a new method. Med Lab Sci. 1989 Oct;46(4):291–294. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Giger O., Charilaou C. C., Cundy K. R. Comparison of the API Staph-Ident and DMS Staph-Trac systems with conventional methods used for the identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Jan;19(1):68–72. doi: 10.1128/jcm.19.1.68-72.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Goldstein J., Schulman R., Kelley E., McKinley G., Fung J. Effect of different media on determination of novobiocin resistance for differentiation of coagulase-negative staphylococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1983 Sep;18(3):592–595. doi: 10.1128/jcm.18.3.592-595.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hovelius B., Mårdh P. A. Staphylococcus saprophyticus as a common cause of urinary tract infections. Rev Infect Dis. 1984 May-Jun;6(3):328–337. doi: 10.1093/clinids/6.3.328. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hébert G. A., Crowder C. G., Hancock G. A., Jarvis W. R., Thornsberry C. Characteristics of coagulase-negative staphylococci that help differentiate these species and other members of the family Micrococcaceae. J Clin Microbiol. 1988 Oct;26(10):1939–1949. doi: 10.1128/jcm.26.10.1939-1949.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Jungkind D. L., Torhan N. J., Corman K. E., Bondi J. M. Comparison of two commercially available test methods with conventional coagulase tests for identification of Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Feb;19(2):191–193. doi: 10.1128/jcm.19.2.191-193.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Langlois B. E., Harmon R. J., Akers K., Aaron D. K. Comparison of methods for determining DNase and phosphatase activities of staphylococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 May;27(5):1127–1129. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.5.1127-1129.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lindsay J. A., Riley T. V. Susceptibility to desferrioxamine: a new test for the identification of Staphylococcus epidermidis. J Med Microbiol. 1991 Jul;35(1):45–48. doi: 10.1099/00222615-35-1-45. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mitchell C. J., Geary C., Stevens M. Detection of Staphylococcus aureus in blood cultures: evaluation of a two-hour method. Med Lab Sci. 1991 Apr;48(2):106–109. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Møller K., Kilian M. V factor-dependent members of the family Pasteurellaceae in the porcine upper respiratory tract. J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Dec;28(12):2711–2716. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.12.2711-2716.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Pennell D. R., Rott-Petri J. A., Kurzynski T. A. Evaluation of three commercial agglutination tests for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Oct;20(4):614–617. doi: 10.1128/jcm.20.4.614-617.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Pfaller M. A., Herwaldt L. A. Laboratory, clinical, and epidemiological aspects of coagulase-negative staphylococci. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1988 Jul;1(3):281–299. doi: 10.1128/cmr.1.3.281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Piper J., Hadfield T., McCleskey F., Evans M., Friedstrom S., Lauderdale P., Winn R. Efficacies of rapid agglutination tests for identification of methicillin-resistant staphylococcal strains as Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1988 Sep;26(9):1907–1909. doi: 10.1128/jcm.26.9.1907-1909.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Ruane P. J., Morgan M. A., Citron D. M., Mulligan M. E. Failure of rapid agglutination methods to detect oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Sep;24(3):490–492. doi: 10.1128/jcm.24.3.490-492.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Stillman R. I., Wenzel R. P., Donowitz L. C. Emergence of coagulase negative staphylococci as major nosocomial bloodstream pathogens. Infect Control. 1987 Mar;8(3):108–112. doi: 10.1017/s0195941700067278. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Woolfrey B. F., Lally R. T., Ederer M. N. An evaluation of three rapid coagglutination tests: Sero-STAT, Accu-Staph, and Staphyloslide, for differentiating Staphylococcus aureus from other species of staphylococci. Am J Clin Pathol. 1984 Mar;81(3):345–348. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/81.3.345. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES