RESUMEN
Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] is a major nosocomial pathogen and continuous to trigger outbreaks of infection. Simultaneous identification of Staph aureus and detection of methicillin resistance. The study included ninety five clinical specimens collected from intensive care unit [ICU] patients in Ain Shams University Hospitals. The method based on PCR detection of both femB gene and mecA gene. Prevalence of Staph aureus in ICU patient was 35%[29% MRSA, 6% MSSA] and Coagulase negative Staphylococci [CoNS] [5%]. Results of PCR revealed the presence of 22 femB-positive mecA-positive strains. Whereas, one strain was genotypically femB-positive mecA-negative. Of the 5 methicillin sensitive Staph aureus, 1 was femB-positive mecA-positive while the other 4 were femB-positive mecA-negative. Three of the CoNS were femB-negative mecA-negative while only 1 was phenotypically resistant but genotypically it was femB-negative mecA-positive. Simultaneous identification of Staph aureus and detection of methicillin resistance using PCR technique can be incorporated into the work flow of the clinical microbiology laboratory and allows for the identification of intrinsic resistance in a timely and reliable manner