Comparison of six rapid agglutination tests for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains.

Six rapid agglutination tests for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus were evaluated by testing 416 strains of staphylococci. The sensitivities and specificities of the tests were as follows: Staphyloslide, 97.7% and 99.3% respectively; Prolex Staph Latex, 96.9% and 93.6%; Staphaurex, 95.4% and 94.2%; Staphaurex Plus, 100% and 93.4%; Slidex Staph Plus, 98.9% and 99.3%; and Staphytect Plus, 99.6% and 88.2%. The three tests utilizing latex particles coated with staphylococcal capsular antibodies were better able to identify methicillin-resistant S. aureus, but only Staphyloslide and Slidex Staph Plus had adequate specificity.