Newly Improved Chromogenic Medium for Rapid and Reliable MRSA Screening in Just 18 Hours

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced the launch of Brilliance™ MRSA 2 Agar. This newly improved chromogenic medium saves valuable time for infection control teams by allowing rapid and reliable screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). With accurate, easy-to-read results in just 18 hours, Brilliance MRSA 2 Agar enables prompt initiation of appropriate infection control measures to help minimise opportunities for
further transmission of MRSA.

The enhanced formulation of Brilliance MRSA 2 Agar ensures even easier interpretation of results. New inhibitory components in the medium further reduce the growth of non-target organisms, while a novel pink counter stain ensures that any organisms that do grow are easily distinguished from the distinctive blue MRSA colonies.

As a result, Brilliance MRSA 2 Agar is now our most sensitive and selective MRSA formulation, minimising false-positive results, even in low MRSA prevalence settings. This saves time and resources by reducing the need to re-incubate plates and minimising confirmatory testing.

“When screening large numbers of patients, it is really important to be able to detect MRSA quickly and easily,” said James Beaves, Clinical Product Manager, Microbiology Products, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “The refined formulation of Brilliance MRSA 2 Agar is more accurate than ever before. The distinctive blue MRSA colonies are quickly identified and easily differentiated from other organisms that might grow. This allows microbiologists to identify positive patient samples quickly and with confidence so that appropriate action can be taken without delay.”

Brilliance MRSA 2 Agar is convenient and extremely easy to use. It is suitable for inoculation direct from screening swabs, or it can be used to plate out an isolate or suspension. Results are available in just 18 hours, following incubation at 37°C.

In trials, Brilliance MRSA 2 Agar demonstrated improved performance compared to the previous Brilliance MRSA formulation and alternative commercially available chromogenic MRSA media1,2.

In a low prevalence setting, it detected more MRSA positive samples than any other medium without a single false positive result, achieving a positive predictive value of 100 percent and a negative predictive value of 99.7%. Brilliance MRSA 2 Agar is available now in the UK and Germany and will be launched more widely in March 2011.