Assessing potential misidentification of Staphylococcus argenteus as Staphylococcus aureus in clinical routine samples: A retrospective study

Abstract

Staphylococcus argenteus is a recently described member of the Staphylococcus aureus complex. Thus far, its frequency in clinical samples has been rarely described. Following an update of the commercially available matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) database (Bruker Daltonics) for pathogen identification, isolates from our S. aureus biobank were reanalysed for the detection of potentially misdiagnosed S. argenteus isolates. Additionally, we assessed whether phenotypical characteristics can be used to differentiate between S. aureus and S. argenteus in routine microbiological diagnostics. Among 505 investigated isolates, no S. argenteus or another member of the S. aureus complex were found. Furthermore, the morphological difference could not reliably distinguish between S. aureus and S. argenteus, as the latter was significantly more often missed by the staff in our study. Continuous surveillance of S. argenteus is essential to more accurately understand its epidemiology.

Keywords: MALDI-TOF MS; Pigmentation test; Staphylococcus argenteus; Staphylococcus aureus complex; Whole genome sequencing.