%0 Journal Article %A Gillespie, M. T. %A Lyon, B. R. %A Skurray, R. A. %T Typing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by antibiotic resistance phenotypes %D 1990 %J Journal of Medical Microbiology, %V 31 %N 1 %P 57-64 %@ 1473-5644 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00222615-31-1-57 %I Microbiology Society, %X Summary The identification of new epidemic strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is essential for rapid, effective infection control. We have developed a typing method which uses antibiotic sensitivity patterns to differentiate methicillin-resistant S. aureus and which is faster and more cost-effective than biochemical analysis or bacteriophage typing. Characterisation of phenotypes which are chromosomally-encoded, plasmid- or chromosomally-encoded or exclusively plasmid-mediated has enabled us to separate Australian strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus into 11 classes, representatives of which were indistinguishable by bacteriophage type, or plasmid profile alone. The value of this procedure is thus clearly shown. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/00222615-31-1-57