Staphylococcus massiliensis isolated from human blood cultures, Germany, 2017-2020

Abstract

Clinical and laboratory data on newly described staphylococcal species is rare, which hampers decision-making when such pathogens are detected in clinical specimens. Here, we describe Staphylococcus massiliensis detected in three patients at a university hospital in southwest Germany. We report the discrepancy of microbiological fndings between matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-fight mass spectrometry, 16S-rRNA polymerase chain reaction, and whole-genome sequencing for all three isolates. Our fndings highlight the diagnostic pitfalls pertinent to novel and non-model organisms in daily microbiological practice, in whom the correct identifcation is dependent on database accuracy.