"WasGross" <wasgross at aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010225193556.20837.00002824 at ng-ct1.aol.com...
> The Clinical Lab I work in has had an increase in the number of latex
negeative
> Staph aureus' the last 3 months,also. We follow up the staphaurex with
> microscan identification. They look picture perfect and smell just like
Staph
> aureus so we call them. They have been both MRSA and not MRSA. It is very
> disturbing.
> About once a year we see a catalase negative Staph aureus.
>> Donna
What about tube coagulase and DNase reactions?
Catalse negative S. aureus do occur. S. aureus subsp. anaerobius is listed
as cat-ve, as is S. saccharolyticus (Manual of Clin. Microbiology 6th Ed.
1995)
see also
Isolation and characterisation of a catalase-negative strain of
Staphylococcus aureus. J. Clin. Microbiol 16: 593-4, 1982
Nick
