Comparison of automated processing of flocked swabs with manual processing of fiber swabs for detection of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

The sensitivity of automated culture of Staphylococcus aureus from flocked swabs versus that of manual culture of fiber swabs was prospectively compared using nasal swabs from 867 patients. Automated culture from flocked swabs significantly increased the detection rate, by 13.1% for direct culture and 10.2% for enrichment culture. Copyright © 2011, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.