Skip to main content
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1983 Nov;18(5):1122–1126. doi: 10.1128/jcm.18.5.1122-1126.1983

Reliability of in vitro susceptibility tests for detecting coagulase-negative staphylococcal resistance to penicillinase-resistant semisynthetic penicillins.

F D Lowy, D S Chang, V Aning, S Williams, G Szilagyi
PMCID: PMC272853  PMID: 6605974

Abstract

The reliabilities of five in vitro susceptibility tests (agar dilution, broth microdilution, automated MS-2, Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion, and ability to grow on methicillin-containing agar) to predict the susceptibility of 204 coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates to penicillinase-resistant semisynthetic penicillins were compared. There was wide variation in susceptibility, with results ranging from 86.3% susceptible by MS-2 to 38.2% by growth on methicillin-containing agar. The results of the broth dilution techniques, including the MS-2, were significantly different (P less than 0.02) from the remaining tests. Nafcillin disks were less effective (P less than 0.02) than oxacillin disks in predicting resistance. Kirby-Bauer oxacillin disks and the ability to grow on methicillin-containing agar were the most reliable predictors of resistance. The MS-2 did not reliably predict resistance.

Full text

PDF
1122

Images in this article

Selected References

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

  1. Archer G. L. Antimicrobial susceptibility and selection of resistance among Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates recovered from patients with infections of indwelling foreign devices. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1978 Sep;14(3):353–359. doi: 10.1128/aac.14.3.353. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barry A. L., Badal R. E. Reliability of the microdilution technic for detection of methicillin-resistant strains of staphylococcus aureus. Am J Clin Pathol. 1977 May;67(5):489–495. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/67.5.489. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bauer A. W., Kirby W. M., Sherris J. C., Turck M. Antibiotic susceptibility testing by a standardized single disk method. Am J Clin Pathol. 1966 Apr;45(4):493–496. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Boyce J. M., White R. L., Bonner M. C., Lockwood W. R. Reliability of the MS-2 system in detecting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 1982 Feb;15(2):220–225. doi: 10.1128/jcm.15.2.220-225.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Christensen G. D., Bisno A. L., Parisi J. T., McLaughlin B., Hester M. G., Luther R. W. Nosocomial septicemia due to multiply antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis. Ann Intern Med. 1982 Jan;96(1):1–10. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-96-1-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cleary T. J., Maurer D. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus susceptibility testing by an automated system, Autobac I. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1978 May;13(5):837–841. doi: 10.1128/aac.13.5.837. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Drew W. L., Barry A. L., O'Toole R., Sherris J. C. Reliability of the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method for detecting methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. Appl Microbiol. 1972 Aug;24(2):240–247. doi: 10.1128/am.24.2.240-247.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fitzgerald R. H., Jr, Nolan D. R., Ilstrup D. M., Van Scoy R. E., Washington J. A., 2nd, Coventry M. B. Deep wound sepsis following total hip arthroplasty. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1977 Oct;59(7):847–855. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Haley R. W., Hightower A. W., Khabbaz R. F., Thornsberry C., Martone W. J., Allen J. R., Hughes J. M. The emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in United States hospitals. Possible role of the house staff-patient transfer circuit. Ann Intern Med. 1982 Sep;97(3):297–308. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-97-3-297. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jones R. N., Thornsberry C., Barry A. L., Gavan T. L. Evaluation of the Sceptor microdilution antibiotic susceptibility testing system: a collaborative investigation. J Clin Microbiol. 1981 Jan;13(1):184–194. doi: 10.1128/jcm.13.1.184-194.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Karchmer A. W., Archer G. L., Dismukes W. E. Staphylococcus epidermidis causing prosthetic valve endocarditis: microbiologic and clinical observations as guides to therapy. Ann Intern Med. 1983 Apr;98(4):447–455. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-98-4-447. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kloos W. E., Wolfshohl J. F. Identification of Staphylococcus species with the API STAPH-IDENT system. J Clin Microbiol. 1982 Sep;16(3):509–516. doi: 10.1128/jcm.16.3.509-516.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Marsik F. J., Brake S. Species identification and susceptibility to 17 antibiotics of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from clinical specimens. J Clin Microbiol. 1982 Apr;15(4):640–645. doi: 10.1128/jcm.15.4.640-645.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sabath L. D., Barrett F. F., Wilcox C., Gerstein D. A., Finland M. Methicillin resistance of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother (Bethesda) 1968;8:302–306. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES