E.faecium/Microscan

[Kathryn Black]

WasGross wrote:
> 
>      Our lab has recently identified a problem we have had with
> identifying Enterococcus using Microscan. We thought we were isolating E.
> faecium which were vancomycin resistant. However, we have now found that
> they are probably not Enterococcus at all. The colonies are more alpha
> hemolytic than gamma and are whiter in appearance than E.fecalis. On
> Microscan they are BE + and
> NaCl neg. Due to the probability using the biochemicals in the remaining
> wells the  isolate identifies as E. faecium without being an exception.
>      1. Are there any Microscan users out there experiencing the same
> problem?
>      2. Any suggestions in a scheme an overworked, underpaid hospital
> laboratory can use to identify these organisms accurately? (We think they
> could be Pediococcus)
> 
>                                                                      Thank
> you.I'm not a Microscan user, but almost all of our isolates of E. faecium 
are alpha-hemolytic.  We use the bio-Merieux API 20Strep system for 
identification and it works great.

Kate