Panel of 18 Biochemical Tests Rapidly Identifies Staphylococcus

A panel of 18 tests has been launched for the biochemical identification of Staphylococcus species and related organisms isolated from human clinical specimens.

Called Remel RapID Staph Plus, the rapid manual identification system offers clinical laboratories of any size a valuable new diagnostic tool for an important group of opportunistic pathogens. All of the test wells are inoculated simultaneously and the panel is then incubated aerobically for four hours.

Resultant color reactions are easy to read and are used to identify the organism using the RapID Staph Plus color guide, which helps generate a numeric microcode. The microcode is entered into Windows-based software for organism identification. This user-friendly package contains a comprehensive database of 40 medically important Staphylococcus species and related organisms, and ranks identifications by probability (greater than 95% probability is required for species level identification), ensuring accuracy and reliability.

The RapID Staph Plus can identify Staphylococcus aureus and over 30 species of coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) in addition to other related organisms. CNS are an increasingly important cause of nosocomial infections. They are the most common causal agents of bacteraemia in patients with indwelling medical devices and are one of the most common causes of septicemia in pediatric patients.

RapID Staph Plus was developed by Oxoid (Basingstoke, UK

Julie Elston, clinical products application manager at Oxoid, commented, "The serious nature of bacteraemia means that there is little time to spare in determining the best course of action. Long delays simply are [not] acceptable and, as a result, the empiric use of agents such as vancomycin is common. RapID Staph Plus gives rapid, same-day results, allowing appropriate therapy to be determined more quickly and providing an opportunity for the use of vancomycin to be restricted to only when it is absolutely necessary.”

Oxoid's RapID range includes products for the identification of oxidase-negative Enterobacteriaceae, anaerobic bacteria, Gram-negative glucose non-fermenters, Corynebacterium species, Neisseria and Haemophilus (common in urinary infections), yeasts and related organisms, and Streptococci and related organisms.


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