Multilocus Sequence Typing for Interpreting Blood Isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis.

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus epidermidis is an important cause of nosocomial infection and bacteremia. It is also a common contaminant of blood cultures and, as a result, there is frequently uncertainty as to its diagnostic significance when recovered in the clinical laboratory. One molecular strategy that might be of value in clarifying the interpretation of S. epidermidis identified in blood culture is multilocus sequence typing. Here, we examined 100 isolates of this species (50 blood isolates representing true bacteremia, 25 likely contaminant isolates, and 25 skin isolates) and the ability of sequence typing to differentiate them. Three machine learning algorithms (classification regression tree, support vector machine, and nearest neighbor) were employed. Genetic variability was substantial betwee

SUBMITTER: Sharma P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3958685 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature