Screening of MRSA samples in routine microbiology is an important service to assist with infection control surveillance. The low prevalence (<2% in the UK) means that significant time is spent by skilled staff to examine and report negative plates. As workload pressures on laboratories increase, there is an increase in demand to investigate technologies to assist with routine plate reading.

This study evaluated the use of an automated plate interpretation workflow using the APAS Independence compared to traditional microbiology technician plate reading within a busy NHS clinical microbiology laboratory setting. A total of 1319 routine surveillance specimens were cultured onto Thermo Fisher Brilliance MRSA II Agar and incubated for 18-24 hours, in accordance with manufacturer's recommendations for MRSA detection.

The study demonstrated that the APAS Independence with MRSA Analysis Module effectively screens out negative MRSA cultures and identifies all positive MRSA cultures. It does this with a significant reduction in time (approximately 90%) and is easily integrated into the MRSA workflow.

‍Poster Presentation: NHS William Harvey Hospital, Kent

‍Conference: ECCMID 2022, Lisbon

‍Date: April 2022

‍Authors: Sloan, B., Dawson, M. and Arkley, R.

‍Citation: Sloan, B., Dawson, M. and Arkley, R. 2022. Evaluation of the APAS Independence with Thermo Fisher Brilliance MRSA Analysis Module at NHS William Harvey Hospital. ECCMID 2022. Lisbon.