Rapid Test Identifies Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci

A new test distinguishes relatively harmless coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CoNS) from dangerous Staphylococcus aureus. Designed for use in hospitals, the test will prevent unnecessary antibiotic use and reduce the average patient's length of stay.

Hospitalized patients sometimes receive unnecessary antibiotics because it can take several days after receiving positive blood culture results to differentiate between serious and aggressive S aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CoNS), which comes from the patient's skin and frequently contaminates blood cultures.

According to an article in the July 2006 issue of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (JAC), AdvanDx's (Woburn, MA, USA) peptide nucleic acid fluorescence in situ hybridization (PNA FISH) tests provided physicians at the University of Maryland Medical Center (Baltimore, USA) with rapid species information the same day a blood culture turned positive. This enabled physicians to determine which patients had a true and serious infection and which patients did not have an infection.

The authors concluded, "CoNS constitute a frequent contaminant of blood cultures and can result in excessive use of vancomycin and consequently an increased length of hospital stay. This can result in excessive hospital costs due to decreased bed utilization and increased pharmacy costs. In addition, the patient may have a greater risk of acquiring an antibiotic-resistant organism or other nosocomial infection.”



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