The mechanisms whereby certain staphylococci are capable of initiating infection in man are poorly understood. Numerous investigations of staphylococci isolated from human infections have characterized certain biologic properties of these microorganisms as related to their pathogenicity. I t has been considered that the local initiation of staphylococcal infection is aided by the necrotizing ac...

The identification of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus isolates in the clinical laboratory has typically been performed by using methods that detect phenotypic expression of resistance determinants. However, these methods may be difficult to interpret and some isolates do not express resistance until selective pressure is administered. Assays that detect genetic determinants are not subject...

Staphylococcus caprae, a hemolytic coagulase-negative staphylococcus that is infrequently associated with humans, was initially detected in specimens from six infants in our neonatal intensive care unit due to phenotypic characteristics common to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. These isolates were subsequently identified as S. caprae by the Automated RiboPrinter microbial character...

results of total 60 s. aureus isolates, 51 (85%) were mrsa, and of 60 cons, 7 (11.66%) were mrcons. the results showed that the mic of chlorhexidine for all 120 isolates was 1-16 μg/ml. 15 (12.5%) isolates carried qaca/b gene, 26 (21.7%) carried qacc gene, and 38 (31.7%) carried smr gene. conclusions maintenance of mrsa isolates in the attendance of low amounts of antiseptics could result in th...

Reduced susceptibility or resistance to vancomycin has been reported among clinical isolates of staphylococci in previous studies. In the present study we report on the isolation of four vancomycin-resistant staphylococcal strains from healthy carriers inside and outside the hospital environment. These carriers did not receive treatment with any antibiotic. All coagulase-negative staphylococcal...

A major drawback of mecA PCR to detect methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) directly from patient materials is the high frequency of methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci. Therefore, a reliable detection method for MRSA from clinical samples using real-time PCR was developed. The PCR assay targeting the integration site (orfX) of the staphylococcal cassette chromo...

The standard iron-chelator deferoxamine is known to prevent the growth of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) which are major pathogens in iron-overloaded patients. However, we found that deferoxamine rather promotes the growth of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus. Accordingly, we tested whether deferiprone, a new clinically-available iron-chelator, can prevent the growth of S. aureu...

Of 124 staphylococcal strains isolated from sheep milk, 78 produced enterotoxin A, B, C, or D when evaluated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Enterotoxins A and D, elaborated by 44 and 43 strains, respectively, showed the highest incidence. Enterotoxin production by coagulase-negative strains (one Staphylococcus cohnii, three S. epidermidis, five S. haemolyticus, and four S. xylosus) wa...