Emergence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in Switzerland: a nation-wide survey

Niccolò Buetti; Nasstasja Wassilew; Viktorija Rion; Laurence Senn; Céline Gardiol; Andreas Widmer; Jonas Marschall; for Swissnoso

doi:10.1186/s13756-019-0466-x

Emergence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in Switzerland: a nation-wide survey

Antimicrob Resist Infect Control. 2019 Jan 17:8:16. doi: 10.1186/s13756-019-0466-x. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Niccolò Buetti^{1

2

3}, Nasstasja Wassilew¹, Viktorija Rion², Laurence Senn⁴, Céline Gardiol⁵, Andreas Widmer⁶, Jonas Marschall¹; for Swissnoso

Collaborators

for Swissnoso:
C Balmelli, M C Eisenring, S Harbarth, S P Kuster, V Masserey Spicher, D Pittet, C Ruef, H Sax, M Schlegel, A Schweiger, N Troillet, G Zanetti

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.
² Swissnoso, National Center for Infection Control, Bern, Switzerland.
³ 3UMR 1137 - IAME Team 5 - DeSCID: Decision SCiences in Infectious Diseases, control and care Inserm, University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.
⁴ 4Service of Hospital Preventive Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁵ 5Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, Bern, Switzerland.
⁶ Division of Infectious Diseases & Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Abstract

This nation-wide survey on the epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) included 142 healthcare institutions and showed an increasing number of VRE colonizations and infections in Switzerland, probably for the most part due to nosocomial dissemination. The introduction and spread of a new clone, gaps in VRE screening policies as well as heterogeneity regarding the management of VRE clusters may be possible explanations.

Keywords: Hospital-acquired; Nosocomial; Outbreak; ST796; VRE; Vancomycin-resistant enterococci.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Communicable Diseases, Emerging / epidemiology
Communicable Diseases, Emerging / microbiology
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / epidemiology*
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / microbiology
Humans
Switzerland / epidemiology
Vancomycin / pharmacology
Vancomycin Resistance
Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci / classification
Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci / drug effects
Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci / genetics
Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci / isolation & purification*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Vancomycin