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What Is an MRSA Culture?

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a form of staph bacteria that shows resistance to normal broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment. Doctors use controlled tests called cultures to help reveal the presence of MRSA infection.

  1. Cultures

    • Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines a culture as the act or process of using prepared nutrients to cultivate living organisms such as viruses or bacteria. When testing for MRSA, doctors can make cultures from several different bodily substances.

    Tested Substances

    • Substances used to make MRSA cultures include sputum (spit combined with mucus or phlegm), blood, urine and skin or drained fluid from the site of the infection, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

    Making a Culture

    • To make a culture, doctors take submitted samples and send them to a laboratory, according to the Mayo Clinic. At the laboratory, a given sample is put into a dish that contains nutrients specifically designed to foster the growth of any bacteria present in the sample.

    Checking for MRSA

    • Typically, it takes roughly two days for a culture to grow detectable amounts of bacteria, according to the Mayo Clinic. After this period, doctors can check for the presence of MRSA.

    Considerations

    • The Mayo Clinic notes that doctors may now use a quicker method of MRSA testing that involves the detection of Staphylococcus DNA.

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