Patent ID: 8442924

Claim:
A method for determining the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a sample, the method comprising: subjecting the sample to conditions that will expose the nucleic acids of any bacteria present in the sample; amplifying and detecting the presence and amounts of at least mecA, orfX, and a Staphylococcus aureus -specific target gene sequence in the sample; and determining the presence of MRSA in the sample by executing a call algorithm on a digital computer, wherein the call algorithm uses as inputs at least the detected and measured amounts of mecA, orfX, and the Staphylococcus aureus -specific target gene sequence to determine whether MRSA is present in the sample, wherein the call algorithm uses a first boundary space to determine the presence of MRSA when the detected amount of orfX is below a threshold value, wherein the call algorithm uses a second boundary space to determine the presence of MRSA when the detected amount of orfX is above the threshold value.