Regional spread of vanA- or vanB-positive Enterococcus gallinarum in hospitals and long-term care facilities in Kyoto prefecture, Japan

Epidemiol Infect. 2011 Mar;139(3):430-6. doi: 10.1017/S0950268810001123. Epub 2010 Jun 1.

Abstract

Following an outbreak of vanA-positive Enterococcus faecium in 2005 in Kyoto prefecture, regional surveillance of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) was initiated. This revealed vanA- or vanB-positive Enterococcus gallinarum in multiple facilities. Eighty-eight vanA-positive E. gallinarum faecal carriers from 12 facilities and ten vanB-positive E. gallinarum faecal carriers from eight facilities were found. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles of the first isolate from each facility showed that 11 of the 12 vanA isolates and three of the eight vanB-positive E. gallinarum isolates belonged to a single clone. This study confirms the clonal spread of vanA- or vanB-positive E. gallinarum in a region and underlines the importance of surveillance of VRE for the presence of vancomycin resistance determinants.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics*
  • Bacterial Typing Techniques
  • Carbon-Oxygen Ligases / genetics*
  • Carrier State / epidemiology*
  • Carrier State / microbiology
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Cross Infection / epidemiology*
  • Cross Infection / microbiology
  • Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
  • Enterococcus / drug effects
  • Enterococcus / genetics*
  • Enterococcus / isolation & purification
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Genotype
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / epidemiology*
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / microbiology
  • Hospitals
  • Humans
  • Japan / epidemiology
  • Long-Term Care
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Molecular Typing
  • Nursing Homes
  • Vancomycin Resistance*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • VanA ligase, Bacteria
  • VanB protein, Enterococcus
  • Carbon-Oxygen Ligases