Molecular-biological analysis of vancomycin-resistant enterococci isolated from a community in the Czech Republic.

OBJECTIVE To determine the occurrence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in a community of the Czech Republic and a molecular-biological analysis of the VRE isolated. METHODS Enterococci were isolated from the rectal swabs of healthy people in the Olomouc region (population 300,000), Czech Republic in the period of January-December 2003. The molecular-biological analysis of VRE was performed by analysis of isolated DNA, which was cleaved by restriction enzyme SmaI and separated by pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). RESULTS A total number of 5,283 swabs were evaluated and 558 Enterococcus sp. strains were isolated during the follow-up period. 9 strains (1.6%) were identified as VRE. Two strains were E. faecium phenotype VanA, one strain was E. faecalis phenotype VanB, two strains were E. gallinarum phenotype VanC and four strains were E. casseliflavus phenotype VanC. PFGE was used to obtain 9 different restriction profiles of VRE strains. The analysis showed closer a similarity of E. casseliflavus strains (80-95%) than between E. faecium strains (41%). CONCLUSIONS The presence of VRE in a sample community of the Czech population was confirmed. It is clear that it is necessary to take into account the possibility of VRE spreading from the community into health care facilities.