Staphylococcus epidermidis is a well-characterized, nonfastidious, aerobic gram-positive coccus commonly isolated in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Although coagulase-negative staphylococci, including Staphylococcus epidermidis, are often considered a contaminant in the clinical laboratory, an increasing number of reports describe their pathogenesis, in particular in infections of prosth...

A new set of typing phages was evaluated for typing 821 Staphylococcus epidermidis strains isolated from normal human skin and from acne lesions. This method was compared with two different systems for biochemical differentiation of S. epidermidis. Distinct subgroups of cocci, which differed in phage susceptibility as well as in biochemical properties, were found. A tentative subdivision of S. ...

Ten samples containing various amounts of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE), and combinations thereof were distributed to 51 laboratories for molecular diagnostics testing. Samples containing 10(2) to 10(3) MRSA cells were frequently reported to be negative. MRSE samples were scored as n...

Three Staphylococcus epidermidis strains produced a factor giving rise to opacity in different sera but not in albumin. Serum opacity factor was resistant to age and heat and active in acidic media.