EVALUATION OF THE VITEK SYSTEMS GRAM-POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION CARD FOR SPECIES IDENTIFICATION OF COAGULASE-NEGATIVE STAPHYLOCOCCI

Vitek Systems' Gram-Positive Identification test (GPI) card was evaluated for the ability to identify 12 coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species and subspecies. The bionumber generated from the GPI card was examined for its potential use in epidemiological studies. Results indicated that the GPI card had a high degree of correlation with the conventional methods of identification. The species identified with the greatest accuracy were Staphylococcus epidermidis (92%), S. haemolyticus (95%), S. capitis subsp. capitis (88%), and S. saprophyticus (100%). S. hominis (63%) was identified with the least accuracy. The bionumber was found to have limited epidemiological value because of the frequent occurrence of a few major bionumbers.