Characterization of coagulase-negative staphylococci from patients with a malignancy compared with those from other...

170 strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from different patient groups have been characterized: 74% were Staphylococcus epidermidis, 18% S. haemolyticus and 7% S. simulans. There were no differences in rates of isolation of the various species from patients with and without a malignancy. Phage typing was not a useful epidemiological tool, but biotyping was possible using the API Staph system. Slime production, a characteristic said to predispose to colonization of catheters, was found to be most common in S. epidermidis strains.