Micrococcus and Stomatococcus spp. from human infections.

Infections with Micrococcus spp. in six patients and Stomatococcus mucilaginosus in one patient are described. Two of the Micrococcus infections occurred in leukaemic patients with indwelling lines, six episodes occurred in three patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and one occurred in a patient with a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt. Stomatococcus was isolated from fluid draining from a sub-dural haematoma. Colony morphology, oxidase reaction and resistance to nitrofuration were useful in differentiation of micrococci from staphylococci. Incidence and risk factors for micrococcal infections appear similar to those for infections with coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS), but the literature is confused due to changes in the definitions of these genera.