There are medical conditions where rapid detection of Gram Positive bacteria is critical. An example of this is sepsis where time is of the essence.

Most Gram Positive bacteria possess a cell wall polymer of lipoteichoic acid (LTA). LTA can be shed from growing bacteria and is also present on the intact bacterium itself.

ViroStat has just released a new set of monoclonal antibodies to LTA. These antibody pairs can be used to detect both free LTA as well as cell wall LTA of intact bacteria.

These new antibodies detect the LTA of many Gram Positive bacteria including: Staph aureus, Staph epidermidis, Strep pneumoniae, Strep pyogenes, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis and Listeria species.

These new antibody pairs represent powerful tools for assay development for bacterial detection.