Simplified Test for Detecting MRSA

The test has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Called BBL CHROMagar MRSA, the test allows for the direction detection and identification of most MRSA within 24 hours. A new prepared plated medium simplifies the process, decreases the time to result, and offers high sensitivity and specificity. The test is based on new chromogenic technology that permits detection of MRSA using chromogenic substrates and a cephalosporin. MRSA strains will grow in the presence of antibiotics and produce mauve-colored colonies, resulting from hydrolysis of the chromogenic substrates. In clinical evaluations, the BBL CHROMagar MRSA displayed 8% greater recovery of MRSA than traditional screening algorithms and has the capability of identifying MRSA earlier than most traditional algorithms.

"Since MRSA colonization leads to infection in a specific patient and is a risk factor for transmission of MRSA to other patients, rapid identification of those with MRSA colonization will reduce the risk of infection in colonized patients by enabling their clinicians to intervene and reduce the risk of patient-to-patient transmission by permitting isolation of those who are MRSA-colonized,” commented Dr. Bill Jarvis, of Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA, USA).

The test was developed by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA). The company notes that the prevalence of nosocomial infections caused by MRSA has been increasing for several years in many countries. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA) estimate that 60,000 to 80,000 people in the United States alone die each year from nosocomial infections and the cause in most cases is S aureus.





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