Optimal use of MRSASelect and PCR to maximize sensitivity and specificity of MRSA detection.

Suspected colonies of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on chromogenic, MRSASelect (BioRad) medium were confirmed using routine microbiological methods, and a multiplex real-time PCR (n = 108). Although the specificity of MRSASelect assessed at 24 h of incubation was much higher than that of 48 h (91.4 vs.

Is the healthy middle ear a normally sterile site?

Objective: To systematically evaluate the presumption that the healthy middle ear becomes colonized with organisms via the patent eustachian tube using modern microbiologic techniques.

Study Design: Sterile saline washings were obtained from the middle ear of patients in a prospective fashion.

Setting: Tertiary/quaternary referral centers.

Evidence from multiplex molecular assays for complex multipathogen interactions in acute respiratory infections.

While most diagnostic processes cease with the detection of the first relevant infectious agent, newer multiplexed molecular methods which provide simultaneous analysis of multiple agents may give a more accurate representation of the true pathogen spectrum in these samples. To examine this in the context of respiratory infections, acute-phase respiratory specimens submitted to our clinical diagnostic microbiology/virology laboratory for our routine VIRAP diagnosis protocol during the spring 2006 peak respiratory infection season were processed in parallel by analysis with Genaco (QiaPlex) ResPlex I and ResPlex II molecular diagnostic panels. A total of 1,742 specimens were examined for 21 relevant targets each.