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

Vitek Systems' Gram-Positive Identification test (GPI) card was evalua ted for the ability to identify 12 coagulase-negative Staphylococcus s pecies and subspecies. The bionumber generated from the GPI card was e xamined for its potential use in epidemiological studies. Results indi cated that the GPI card had a high degree of correlation with the conv entional methods of identification. The species identified with the gr eatest 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 freque nt occurrence of a few major bionumbers.