Dissemination of clonally unrelated erythromycin- and glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates in a tertiary Greek hospital

A N Maniatis; S Pournaras; M Kanellopoulou; F Kontos; E Dimitroulia; E Papafrangas; A Tsakris

doi:10.1128/JCM.39.12.4571-4574.2001

Dissemination of clonally unrelated erythromycin- and glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates in a tertiary Greek hospital

J Clin Microbiol. 2001 Dec;39(12):4571-4. doi: 10.1128/JCM.39.12.4571-4574.2001.

Authors

A N Maniatis¹, S Pournaras, M Kanellopoulou, F Kontos, E Dimitroulia, E Papafrangas, A Tsakris

Affiliation

¹ Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Thessalia, Larissa, Greece.

Abstract

Between September 1999 to February 2001, 25 glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium (GRE) isolates were recovered from a Greek hospital. The isolates exhibited 13 distinct chromosomal macrorestriction types by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and all were erythromycin and vancomycin resistant, carrying the genes vanA and ermB. Vancomycin resistance, always linked with erythromycin resistance, was transferable from 17 isolates. The dissemination of erythromycin-resistant GRE strains may, at least in part, reflect the extensive use of macrolides in husbandry in Greece.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / genetics*
Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
Enterococcus faecium / drug effects*
Enterococcus faecium / genetics
Enterococcus faecium / isolation & purification
Erythromycin / pharmacology*
Glycopeptides
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / epidemiology
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / microbiology
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / transmission*
Greece / epidemiology
Hospitals
Humans
Vancomycin Resistance* / genetics

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Glycopeptides
Erythromycin