A rapid test for the identification and confirmation of Staphylococcus aureus colonies grown on selective solid media.

Two of the traditional diagnostic tests for S. aureus, the tube and slide coagulase tests, only detect the activity of a characteristic coagulase enzyme. However, these tests can be difficult to interpret and are liable to suffer from false positive results associated with non-specific factors frequently found in plasma. Non-specific coagulation due to other bacterial enzymes may also occur.

However, 99% of S. aureus isolates also produce detectable levels of protein A on their surface, a characteristic which can be used to differentiate S. aureus from other species of Staphylococci in which this protein is rare.

Microgen®Staph is a sensitive and specific latex agglutination for the identification of S. aureus which overcomes the problems associated with the traditional tests by detecting both coagulase and protein A, offering rapid and accurate identification of S. aureus in 2 minutes. Microgen®Staph contains all ancillary reagents needed to complete the test and is suitable for clinical, food and environmental laboratories.