1. Intended use

Usage of Compact Dry X-SA Staphylococcus aureus is a simple and safe test procedure for determination and quantification of Staphylococcus aureus in foods, cosmetics or raw materials – as well as pharmaceutical raw materials. The ready-to-use plates consist of a special 50 mm diameter petri dish containing a detection specific nutrient pad.

2. General Information

- Staphylococcus aureus is a ball shaped bacterium which can be observed as a grape-like clustered organism under the microscope. Cells are sized between 0.8 – 1.2 µm, Gram-positive and non-motile. S. aureus is a natural commensal of humans which lives on skin and upper airways and doesn’t cause diseases in general. In case of infections with pathogenic strains or in immunodeficient persons S. aureus is able to cause skin infections and abscesses but also life threating diseases as pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, or toxic shock syndrome (TSS).

- One reason for the facultative pathogenicity of S. aureus is its ability to form enterotoxins (SET), which can accumulate in contaminated food and can’t be inactivated totally by heat treatment. Contaminations of food stuffs with S. aureus are almost always caused by humans (hands, sneezing, coughing). S. aureus therefore is considered as indicator for poor personal hygiene. Beside its relevance for food hygiene S. aureus also plays a significant role in hospital hygiene. Especially strains of S. aureus which have acquired resistances against common antibiotics the so called „methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus” (MRSA) might pose a non-assessable danger as they are difficult-to-treat.

- Compact Dry X-SA Staphylococcus aureus detects S. aureus after only 24 h incubation time at 37 °C. The bright blue colonies are easy to identify on the nutrient pad and therefore easy to evaluate.

- The ready-to-use, chromogenic Compact Dry plates are suitable for in-process controls as well as controls of finished products. With the optional additional product Promedia ST-25 swab test (Z0302) Compact Dry plates may also be used for surface sampling and therefore applied for quantitative hygiene monitoring even at surfaces which are difficult to reach.

3. Benefits

- The CompactDry X-SA Staphylococcus aureus identification test is a ready to use, dehydrated, selective and chromogenic media plate for the detection of Staphylococcus aureus in food. Staphylococcus aureus forms light blue/blue colonies, facilitating detection.

- In addition to detecting Staphylococcus aureus contamination in food; food handler hygiene can be tested using a simple swab protocol on the hands.

4. Specifications Compact Dry X-SA Staphylococcus aureus

5. General protocol Compact Dry X-SA Staphylococcus aureus