The Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol 34, Issue 5 245-248, Copyright © 1991 by Society for General Microbiology
Epidemiological typing of coagulase-negative staphylococci by pyrolysis mass spectrometry
R. Freeman, M. Goodfellow, A. C. Ward, S. J. Hudson, F. K. Gould and N. F. Lightfoot
Department of Microbiology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead.
Pyrolysis mass spectrometry (PMS) was evaluated for the epidemiological
typing of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) in situations in which it
was necessary to distinguish between repeated isolation of the same strain
from a single patient (genuine infection) and coincidental isolation of
unrelated strains (contamination). Thirteen CNS isolates were examined,
consisting of five pairs, each pair isolated from a single patient, and
three unrelated strains. PMS analysis gave results equivalent to a
conventional typing system comprising antibiogram, biotype and plasmid
profile analysis. Both methods facilitate differentiation between genuine
infection with CNS and the isolation of contaminants. The speed,
reproducibility, versatility and relatively low cost of PMS suggest that it
may be a valuable new technique for the epidemiological typing of CNS in
routine clinical settings.
