Thermostable DNase Is Superior to Tube Coagulase for Direct Detection of Staphylococcus aureus in Positive Blood Cultures

摘要

In a recent edition of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Qian et al.described the sensitivity and specificity of the direct tube coagulase (DTC) test for the presumptive identification of Staphylococcus aureus directly from positive blood culture bottles from which Gram stains were consistent with staphylococci (7).The reported sensitivities of 34 at 2 h of incubation and 65 at 4 h of incubation (7) are considerably lower than those previously described and suggest an unacceptably high rate of false negatives (1,4,5,6,8, 9,11). he authors draw the conclusion that despite its low sensitivity the DTC test is clinically valuable,particularly in experienced hands, because of it? low cost and simplicity (7)#