MRSA Screen PCR

MRSA, Methicillin-resistant, Staphylococcus aureus, Staph

Test Codes

EPIC: LAB1231076

Department

Microbiology

Instructions

• This test is used to screen for colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
• For suspected cases of S. aureus sinusitis, order Respiratory Culture, source Sinus.

Specimen Collection Criteria

Collect: Nasal specimen using aseptic technique and place in an ESwab container.

• Carefully insert the swab into the patient’s nostril. The swab tip should be inserted up to 1 inch from the edge of the nares.
• Roll the swab along the mucosa inside the nostril 5 times.
• Repeat the steps above using the same swab in the second nostril.
• Replace the swab in its transport tube.
• The specimen must be labeled with the date and time of collection, as well as the patient's name, medical record number, and source of specimen (nares).

Physician Office/Draw Specimen Preparation

Maintain specimens at room temperature (20-26°C or 68-78.8°F) prior to transport.

Preparation for Courier Transport

Transport: ESwab at room temperature (20-26°C or 68-78.8°F).

Rejection Criteria

• Swabs submitted in an expired collection system. 
• Collection devices other than Eswab.

Storage

Specimen Stability for Testing:

Room Temperature (20-26°C or 68-78.8°F): 48 hours
Refrigerated (2-8°C or 36-46°F): 5 days
Frozen (-20°C/-4°F or below): Unacceptable

Specimen Storage in Department Prior to Disposal:

Room Temperature (20-26°C or 68-78.8°F): 7 days

Laboratory

Royal Oak Microbiology Laboratory

Performed

Sunday – Saturday.

Reference Range

Methicillin-resistant S. aureus not detected.

Test Methodology

Nucleic Acid Amplification (FDA Approved; BD MAX^TM StaphSR).

Clinical Utility

Colonization with MRSA is associated with surgical site infections. Screening for MRSA colonization can help guide perioperative antimicrobial regimens to prevent surgical site infections.

A negative result, indicating the absence of colonization with MRSA, predicts low likelihood of MRSA lower respiratory tract infection. A positive result is not diagnostic of MRSA infection and should not be used to establish the etiology of an infection.

Clinical Disease

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are major concerns in the healthcare setting where they may cause more severe and potentially life-threatening infections of the bloodstream, surgical sites, or lungs. Persons with MRSA in their nares have a greater chance of having the same MRSA strain cause a wound infection following surgery. In the community, most MRSA infections are skin infections that may appear as pustules or boils that are red, swollen, painful, or have pus or other drainage. These skin infections commonly occur at sites of visible skin trauma, such as cuts and abrasions, and areas of the body covered by hair.

Disease Reporting

Not reportable to public health unless there is unusual disease or there is an unusual antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of an isolate in an outbreak.

Epidemiology

MRSA can be carried in the nares either persistently or intermittently and then transferred to the skin or other body areas. Health care workers may have a high rate of carriage of MRSA in the nares as do persons with chronic illnesses such as insulin-dependent diabetics, persons on long-term hemodialysis and users of illegal intravenous drugs. Other sites where MRSA can be found in the body include the intertriginous skin folds, the axillae, the perineum and the vagina. MRSA is most commonly transmitted from patient to patient by unwashed hands. Infected pets and livestock can also transmit the organism.

The CDC has previously reported that invasive (life-threatening) MRSA infections in healthcare settings were declining. Invasive MRSA infections that began in hospitals dropped an estimated 54% between 2005 and 2011. A significant portion was due to the decrease in MRSA bloodstream infections, with rates decreasing by 17.1% each year during that time.

Incubation Period

Variable.

Transmission

Spread through contact transmission. Handwashing greatly decreases transmission within an institution.

Reference

1. Becton, Dickinson and Company, BD MAX StaphSR Instructions for Use. Sparks, MD, US.
2. https://www.cdc.gov/mrsa/
3. Becker, K., R.L. Skov, and C. von Eiff, 2015. Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, and Other Catalase-Positive Cocci. Jorgensen, J.H. Editor in Chief. Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 11^th Edition. ASM Press. Washington, D.C.

CPT Codes

87641

Contacts

Last Updated

11/3/2025