A PCR assay for identification of Enterococcus faecium.

Enterococcus faecium has recently emerged as a serious nosocomial pathogen. The prevalence and severity of enterococcal infections, the mortality rate from such infections, and the antibiotic resistance of enterococci are often species dependent. Since conventional biochemical methods fail to differentiate E. faecium from certain newly described enterococcal species, a PCR-based assay was developed for the rapid identification of E. faecium.