Compatibility of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis findings and clinical criteria commonly used to distinguish between true coagulase-negative staphylococcal bacteremia and contamination

OBJECTIVES. To evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of the clinical criteria widely used to differentiate true coagulase-negative staphylococcal (CoNS) bacteremia from contamination, using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) as the reference test