ISMJ

Fluorescent in situ hybridization ( FISH ) is a new diagnostic technique for specific detection of microorganisms at molecular level and direct visualization of microbial morphology. In this study, FISH technique was evaluated for detection of staphylococci. A set of 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes were used for FISH. For detection of Staphylococcus aureus in sputum samples by FISH and comparison with conventional bacterial culture, 76 sputum samples were investigated . According to our data , sensitivity and specificity of FISH for detection of this bacterium were 86.7% and 100% , respectively. As another part of this study, 41 blood culture specimens were examined for detection of staphylococci. In compare with conventional culture methods, sensitivity and specificity of FISH for detection of S. aureus were 100% and for non S. aureus species of staphylococci, sensitivity and specificity of FISH were 95.7% and 100% respectively. All steps of FISH technique were performed within 3h. Therefore, FISH is a rapid, sensitive, and specific technique for detection of staphylococci.