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. 1999 Sep;37(9):2952–2961. doi: 10.1128/jcm.37.9.2952-2961.1999

TABLE 2.

Comparison of susceptibility testing methods to mecA gene analysis for 58 CoNS isolates

Method Medium Incubation temp (°C) Incubation time (h) No. of isolates
Sensitivity (%) Specificity (%) No growth on control
mecA positive mecA negative Sa Ia Ra
Agar dilution 0% NaCl 30 24 27 27 41b/34c 13b/20c 48.1b/59.3c 100b/85.2c 4
48 29 27 42b/36c 14b/20c 48.3b/62.1c 100b/96.3c 2
35 24 29 28 43b/36c 14b/21c 48.3b/65.5c 100b/92.9c 1
48 30 28 40b/35c 18b/23c 60.0b/70.0c 100b/92.9c 0
2% NaCl 30 24 28 27 34b/31c 21b/24c 75.0b/85.7c 100b/100c 3
48 29 28 34b/32c 23b/25c 79.3b/86.2c 100b/100c 1
35 24 30 28 39b/35c 19b/23c 63.3b/76.7c 100b/100c 0
48 30 28 35b/30c 23b/28c 76.7b/93.3c 100b/100c 0
4% NaCl 30 24 26 26 28b/27c 24b/25c 92.3b/92.3c 100b/96.1c 6
48 29 28 32b/31c 25b/26c 86.2b/86.2c 100b/96.4c 1
35 24 29 27 31b/30c 25b/26c 86.2b/89.7c 100b/100c 2
48 30 28 28b/28c 28b/30c 96.7bd/96.7c 96.4bd/96.4c 0
Disk diffusion Difco 35 24 29 27 22 6 28 90.0 74.1 2
48 30 27 20 4 33 93.3 66.7 1
BBL 35 24 29 27 23 2 31 86.2 74.1 2
48 29 27 20 3 33 93.1 70.4 2
Agar screen
 Swab inoculation Remel 35 24 30 28 46 12 40.0 100 —e
48 30 28 33 25 83.3 100 —e
Difco 35 24 29f/27g 27f/23g 27f/35g 29f/14g 93.1f/51.8g 92.6f/100g 2f/1g
48 30f/27g 27f/23g 25f/22g 32f/26g 100f/96.3g 92.6f/100g 1f/1g
 Spot inoculation Remel 30 24 30 28 44 14 46.7 100 —e
48 30 28 39 19 63.3 100 —e
35 24 30 28 38 20 66.7 100 —e
48 30 28 38 20 66.7 100 —e
Difco 30 24 26 26 30 22 84.6 100 6
48 29 28 33 24 82.3 100 1
35 24 29 27 36 20 70.0 100 2
48 30 28 32 26 83.3 96.4 0
a

S, susceptible; I, intermediate; R, resistant. 

b

Susceptibility breakpoint, ≤2 μg/ml. 

c

Susceptibility breakpoint, ≤1 μg/ml. 

d

One isolate was interpreted as susceptible but was mecA positive; this isolate was interpreted as resistant by the agar screen swab inoculation method with Difco medium prepared in-house (60 colonies at 0.6 μg/ml; 20 colonies at 6.0 μg/ml). 

e

No control plate available. 

f

Oxacillin concentration, 0.6 μg/ml. 

g

Oxacillin concentration, 6.0 μg/ml.