ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the cefoxitin screening test in detecting(MRSA)with the real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)for detecting mecA gene as the golden standard.Methods Staphylococcus aureus strains iso-lated from various bacterial infection specimens were collected,which were amplified by RT-PCR and detected by the cefoxitin screening test respectively.The results were compared.Results In 121strains of MRSA,66 strains carrying mecA gene were detec-ted by RT-PCR(P >0.05),accounting for 54.55%(66/121).There was no statsitcal difference in the detection results between the cefoxitin screening test and RT-PCR.The sensitivity of the cefoxitin screening test was 93.93%,the specificity was 81.82%,the positive predictive value was 84.93% and negative predictive value was 91.83%.Conclusion The RT-PCR technique can accurate-ly and rapidly detect MRSA.