TY - JOUR
T1 - Validation and implementation of the GeneXpert MRSA/SA blood culture assay in a pediatric setting
AU - Spencer, David H.
AU - Sellenriek, Patricia
AU - Burnham, Carey Ann D.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - Blood cultures positive for gram-positive cocci in clusters can pose a dilemma for empiric antimicrobial therapy because they could represent coagulase-negative staphylococcus or Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. The GeneXpert MRSA/SA BC Assay (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA) is a polymerase chain reaction-based method for identifying S aureus and methicillin resistance that has been approved for use in adults, but data on its use in samples from pediatric patients is limited. We validated the Xpert MRSA/SA BC Assay for use with anaerobic and polymicrobial specimens from pediatric patients and implemented it for routine presumptive identification of S aureus in our pediatric hospital. The assay was 100% sensitive and specific for methicillin-resistant S aureus and 100% sensitive and 99.5% specific for methicillin-susceptible S aureus. Time to presumptive identification of S aureus bacteremia and determination of methicillin susceptibility was reduced by more than 24 hours. We found the Xpert MRSA/SA BC Assay to be a rapid, accurate tool for detecting methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible S aureus in positive pediatric blood cultures, including polymicrobial cultures and those recovered in anaerobic blood culture media.
AB - Blood cultures positive for gram-positive cocci in clusters can pose a dilemma for empiric antimicrobial therapy because they could represent coagulase-negative staphylococcus or Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. The GeneXpert MRSA/SA BC Assay (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA) is a polymerase chain reaction-based method for identifying S aureus and methicillin resistance that has been approved for use in adults, but data on its use in samples from pediatric patients is limited. We validated the Xpert MRSA/SA BC Assay for use with anaerobic and polymicrobial specimens from pediatric patients and implemented it for routine presumptive identification of S aureus in our pediatric hospital. The assay was 100% sensitive and specific for methicillin-resistant S aureus and 100% sensitive and 99.5% specific for methicillin-susceptible S aureus. Time to presumptive identification of S aureus bacteremia and determination of methicillin susceptibility was reduced by more than 24 hours. We found the Xpert MRSA/SA BC Assay to be a rapid, accurate tool for detecting methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible S aureus in positive pediatric blood cultures, including polymicrobial cultures and those recovered in anaerobic blood culture media.
KW - Bacteremia
KW - GeneXpert
KW - MRSA
KW - Methicillin resistance
KW - Staphylococcus aureus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80355126480&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1309/AJCP07UGYOKBVVNC
DO - 10.1309/AJCP07UGYOKBVVNC
M3 - Article
C2 - 22031306
AN - SCOPUS:80355126480
SN - 0002-9173
VL - 136
SP - 690
EP - 694
JO - American journal of clinical pathology
JF - American journal of clinical pathology
IS - 5
ER -