Clinical evaluation of Oxoid Brilliance MRSA Agar in comparison with bioMerieux MRSA ID medium for detection of livestock-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Oxoid Brilliance MRSA Agar and bioMerieux MRSA ID medium were evaluated for their ability to identify meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in clinical samples. Nasal and throat samples (n=629) were taken from veterinarians and their household members. The sensitivities of Brilliance MRSA Agar and MRSA ID medium after 20 h of incubation were 63.6 and 64.5%, and the specificities were 94.1 and 99.4%, respectively. After an enrichment step, the sensitivities increased to 96.3 and 97.2%, but the specificities decreased to 88.7 and 98.5%, respectively. Brilliance MRSA Agar and MRSA ID medium are both sensitive methods for the screening of MRSA in combination with broth enrichment, but positive results require confirmation.