Evaluation of two commercial immunoassays used to screen patients for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Diagnosing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can be challenging as laboratory screening methods, although sensitive, lack specificity. The poor specificity of autoimmune testing produces more false positive results than true positive results. False positive results can cause stress to patients without autoimmune disease and require unnecessary rheumatology consultation to rule out disease.

Recovery of a catalase-negative Staphylococcus epidermidis strain in blood and urine cultures from a patient with pyelonephritis.

This report describes a 60-year-old patient with bilateral nephrolithiasis. A catalase-negative Staphylococcus epidermidis strain was recovered from both urine and blood cultures. Although rare, isolates of catalase-negative Staphylococcus spp.

Rates of carriage of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus in an outpatient population.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of and the clinical features associated with asymptomatic Staphylococcus aureus colonization in a healthy outpatient population, and to compare the characteristics of colonizing methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains with those of strains causing infection in our community and hospital.

Setting: Outpatient military clinics.