Reply to “Phenotypic Identification of Staphylococcus intermedius May Be Inaccurate”

REPLY

We appreciate Dr. Weese's comments. We acknowledge the possibility that, were we to perform molecular typing of our patient's isolates today, the species identification might well be Staphylococcus pseudintermedius rather than S. intermedius. Our case, and our laboratory identification method (1), stemmed from a patient encounter in 2007, the time when the reclassification of phenotypic S. intermedius strains mentioned by Dr. Weese took place.

As Dr. Weese notes, the question of species identification of S. pseudintermedius versus S. intermedius, while important for scientific accuracy, was not immediately germane to the patient's management. In normal clinical practice, the treating physician is not able to obtain species identification to make real-time decisions related to patient management. Our case report illustrates the unusual occurrence of serious metastatic infection in a non-S. aureus staphylococcal bacteremia and is intended to serve as a reminder to clinicians that non-S. aureus staphylococci are occasionally as virulent as their more famous cousins.