Sequential emergence of antibiotic resistance in enterococcal bloodstream isolates over 25 years

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2002 Nov;46(11):3676-8. doi: 10.1128/AAC.46.11.3676-3678.2002.

Abstract

We determined the antibiotic susceptibilities of 1,785 enterococcal bloodstream isolates collected over 25 years. Antibiotic resistance emerged at a greater rate in Enterococcus faecium than in other enterococcal species, and E. faecium isolates became proportionally more common over time. Our findings confirm the pattern of emerging antibiotic resistance among enterococci and highlight the increasing importance of E. faecium as a cause of bloodstream infection.

MeSH terms

  • Colorado / epidemiology
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Enterococcus / drug effects*
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / epidemiology
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / microbiology*
  • Humans
  • North Carolina / epidemiology
  • Population Surveillance
  • Time Factors
  • United States / epidemiology