Molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of Enterococci recovered from Brazilian intensive care units

• Published in: The Brazilian journal of infectious diseases Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 197 - 205
• Main Authors: Titze-de-Almeida, Ricardo, Rollo Filho, Maurício, Nogueira, Celeste A, Rodrigues, Isabela P, Eudes Filho, João, Nascimento, Rejane S do, Ferreira, 2nd, Renato F, Moraes, Lídia M P, Boelens, Hélène, Van Belkum, Alex, Felipe, Maria Sueli Soares
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases 01-06-2004; Elsevier
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; antimicrobial resistance; Brazil - epidemiology; Cross Infection - epidemiology; Cross Infection - microbiology; Drug Resistance, Microbial - genetics; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; Enterococci; Enterococcus - drug effects; Enterococcus - genetics; Enterococcus - isolation & purification; Genotype; genotyping; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections - epidemiology; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections - microbiology; Humans; INFECTIOUS DISEASES; Intensive Care Units; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Molecular Epidemiology; Brazil; Enterococci; antimicrobial resistance; genotyping
• ISSN: 1413-8670; 1678-4391; 1413-8670
• DOI: 10.1590/S1413-86702004000300002

We studied the antimicrobial resistance and the molecular epidemiology of 99 enterococcal surveillance isolates from two hospitals of Brasilia, Brazil. Conventional biochemical tests were used to identify the enterococcal species and the disk diffusion method was used to determine their resistance profiles. Enterococcus faecalis (76%) and E. faecium (9%) were the most prevalent species. No enterococci showed the vanA or vanB vancomycin resistance phenotypes or genotypes. Only the intrinsically resistant species E. gallinarum (n=2) and E. casseliflavus (n=3) harbored the vancomycin-resistance genes vanC1 and vanC2/3, respectively. We found E. faecalis isolates with high-level resistance to gentamicin (22%) and streptomycin (8%) and both E. faecalis and E. faecium isolates with resistance to more than two antimicrobials (84% and 67%, respectively). Nine E. faecalis isolates (12%) were resistant to ampicillin; the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were 16 microg/mL (n=6) and 32 microg/mL (n=3). Among these ampicillin-resistant E. faecalis, seven were also resistant to gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, rifampin, penicillin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline and erythromycin. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis classified those isolates in three different genotypes, suggesting dissemination of genetically related ampicillin-resistant E. faecalis strains among different patients.