Abstract
During a 9-month period, 217 patients were newly diagnosed as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriers by using a commercial rapid PCR-based test (GeneXpert). However, no MRSA was recovered by culturing the second swab in 61 of these patients. Further analyses showed that 28 (12.9%) of the patients harbored S. aureus isolates with a staphylococcal cassette chromosome element lacking the mecA gene and were thus incorrectly determined to be MRSA carriers.
MeSH terms
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Bacterial Proteins / genetics*
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Bacteriological Techniques / methods*
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Carrier State / diagnosis
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Carrier State / microbiology
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DNA, Bacterial / genetics*
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False Positive Reactions*
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Humans
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Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / genetics
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Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / isolation & purification*
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Penicillin-Binding Proteins
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Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
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Staphylococcal Infections / diagnosis*
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Staphylococcal Infections / microbiology
Substances
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Bacterial Proteins
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DNA, Bacterial
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Penicillin-Binding Proteins
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mecA protein, Staphylococcus aureus