Rapid Detection of Staphylococcus aureusin Lower Respiratory Tract Secretions from Patients with Suspected Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: Evaluation of the Cepheid Xpert MRSA/SA SSTI Assay

ABSTRACTA preclinical evaluation was conducted to evaluate the performance of the Cepheid Xpert assay on 135 lower respiratory tract secretions for detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureusand S. aureus. Compared with the quantitative culture, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 99.0%, 72.2%, 90.7%, and 96.3%, respectively.