Evaluation of six agglutination tests for Staphylococcus aureus identification depending upon local prevalence of meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA).

Most routine laboratory detection of Staphylococcus aureus isolates is based on rapid agglutination test systems. Failure of agglutination assays to identify meticillin-resistant S. aureus strains (MRSA) has been demonstrated.