[Comparison of latex agglutination and bacitracin-SXT methods used for the identification of 142 beta-hemolytic streptococci].

We compared the latex agglutination and bacitracin-SXT methods to identify Group A Streptococci (GAS) from throat cultures. In our study all 118 GAS strains identified by latex agglutination method were found susceptible to bacitracin, 115 were found resistant and 3 were susceptible to SXT. All beta hemolytic streptococci rather than GAS were found resistant to bacitracin. As a result bacitracin method is found valuable in rutin studies in GAS identification.