Case report: Staphylococcus gallinarum bacteremia in a patient with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

An unusual staphylococcal isolate was recovered from blood cultures in a patient with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, who presented with low grade fever accompanied by increased upper abdominal pain, nausea and weakness. The isolate was identified as Staphylococcus gallinarum based on biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses.

Staphylococcus pseudolugdunensis sp. nov., a pyrrolidonyl arylamidase/ornithine decarboxylase-positive bacterium isolated from blood cultures.

Twelve coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates recovered from blood cultures with positive pyrrolidonyl arylamidase and ornithine decarboxylase reactions were identified as Staphylococcus lugdunensis by the clinical microbiology laboratory. However, none of these 12 isolates were recognized by a S. lugdunensis translation elongation factor Tu (tuf) gene-specific probe.

Identification of Staphylococcus aureus and determination of methicillin resistance directly from positive blood cultures by isothermal amplification and a disposable detection device.

A simple, rapid, and user-friendly procedure has been developed to identify Staphylococcus aureus and determine its methicillin resistance directly from gram-positive cocci in cluster-containing blood culture medium. The specimens were diluted and heated prior to amplification of the nuc and mecA genes with isothermal helicase-dependent amplification. Amplicons were detected using a disposable detection device.

Simultaneous detection and high-throughput identification of a panel of RNA viruses causing respiratory tract infections.

Clinical presentations for viral respiratory tract infections are often nonspecific, and a rapid, high-throughput laboratory technique that can detect a panel of common viral pathogens is clinically desirable. We evaluated two multiplex reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) products coupled with microarray-based systems for simultaneous detection of common respiratory tract viral pathogens. The NGEN respiratory virus analyte-specific assay (Nanogen, San Diego, CA) detects influenza A virus (Flu-A) and Flu-B, parainfluenza virus 1 (PIV-1), PIV-2, and PIV-3, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), while the ResPlex II assay (Genaco Biomedical Products, Inc.

StaphPlex system for rapid and simultaneous identification of antibiotic resistance determinants and Panton-Valentine leukocidin detection of staphylococci from positive blood cultures.

Phenotypic methods take several days for identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of staphylococcal isolates after gram-positive cocci in clusters (GPCC) are observed in positive blood cultures. We developed and validated a StaphPlex system that amplifies and detects 18 gene targets simultaneously in 1 reaction for species-level identification of staphylococci, detection of genes encoding Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), and antimicrobial resistance determinants of staphylococci. The StaphPlex system was compared to phenotypic methods for organism identification and antimicrobial resistance detection for positive blood culture specimens in which GPCC were observed.