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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Biosensor for Detection of Antibiotic Resistant Staphylococcus Bacteria
Published on: May 8, 2013
Rapid detection of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and methicillin resistance by real-time PCR in whole blood
N Wellinghausen1, D Siegel, S Gebert
1Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University Hospital of Ulm, Ulm, Germany. nele.wellinghausen@labor-gaertner.de
Abstract:
We prospectively evaluated a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach for the rapid diagnosis of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and presence of the mecA gene in 902 blood samples from 468 infectious episodes of 384 patients. Eight of 12 blood culture (BC)-confirmed samples were positive by the S. aureus-specific PCR. In addition, the mecA gene PCR correctly detected all cases of BC-confirmed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. A positive PCR result was also obtained in ten of 462 BC-negative infectious episodes, including three patients with culture-confirmed S. aureus infection at other body sites.
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