OBJECTIVES Integrons are thought to play an important role in the spread of antibiotic resistance. This study investigates class 1 and 2 integron-positive methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci strains isolated in Iran and characterizes their patterns of antimicrobial resistance. METHODS Hundred clinical isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci were characterized for integ...

The emergence of resistance in gram-positive bacteria has necessitated a search for new antimicrobial agents. Linezolid is an oxazolidinone, a new class of antibacterial agents with enhanced activity against pathogens. We compared the activity of linezolid to those of other antimicrobial agents against 3,945 clinical isolates. Linezolid demonstrated potent activity against all isolates tested. ...

Techniques have been devised for studying quantitatively the effects of air ions on microorganisms suspended in small drops. In smog-contaminated atmospheres moderate concentrations of positive and negative air ions exerted a protective effect on staphylococci by delaying the drop in pH customarily observed and by diminishing the rate of evaporation. In clean air higher concentrations of positi...

A preponderance of clusters seen on direct Gram stain of blood cultures positive for gram-positive cocci was 98% sensitive and 100% specific for identification of staphylococcal species or of Peptococcus. A preponderance of chains, pairs, or both was 100% sensitive and 98% specific for identifying streptococci. Further presumptive identification of either staphylococci or streptococci based on ...

The clinical importance of coagulase-positive staphylococci is well-known. In fact, Staphylococcus aureus is so often considered a pathogen that few laboratories appreciate that up to 25% of these strains isolated from blood cultures are actually contaminants from skin flora.' Conversely, coagulase-negative staphylococci have so long been considered an environmental contaminant that the pathoge...

Vancomycin resistance has been reported in clinical isolates of both coagulase-negative staphylococci and Staphylococcus aureus. The emerging threat of widespread vancomycin resistance poses a serious public health concern given the fact that vancomycin has long been the preferred treatment of antibiotic-resistant gram-positive organisms. Though major efforts are now being focused on improving ...

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of isolation of coagulase-negative staphylococci and their resistance to methicillin over a period of time. METHODS The descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, from June 2009 to May 2012, and comprised clinical samples mostly from patients admitted to the intensive care unit. They were inoculated onto appropri...

A real-time PCR assay that uses two fluorescence resonance energy transfer probe sets and targets the tuf gene of staphylococci is described here. One probe set detects the Staphylococcus genus, whereas the other probe set is specific for Staphylococcus aureus. One hundred thirty-eight cultured isolates, which contained 41 isolates of staphylococci representing at least nine species, and 100 po...

It has generally been accepted that enterotoxin production is confined to coagulase-positive staphylococci, although the isolation of enterotoxigenic coagulase-negative strain has been reported. 1.2.3.4 Coagulase-positive staphylococci which produce enterotoxins have been found in 96.2 percent, 5 92 percent, 6 44 percent, 7 or 95 percent 8 of the strains isolated from food products involved in ...

Staphylococci are important opportunistic pathogens in most animal species. Among the most relevant species are the coagulase positive species Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. Methicillin resistance has emerged as an important problem in both of these organisms, with significant concerns about animal and public health. The relative importance of these staphylococci on ...