Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) bloodstream infections are associated with high recurrence rates. This study used genome sequencing to accurately distinguish the frequency of relapse and reinfection in patients with recurrent E. faecium bacteremia and to investigate strain relatedness in patients with apparent VREfm and vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium (VSEfm) mixed infection...

From 1 January to 31 December 2013, 26 institutions around Australia participated in the Australian Enterococcal Sepsis Outcome Programme (AESOP). The aim of AESOP 2013 was to determine the proportion of enterococcal bacteraemia isolates in Australia that are antimicrobial resistant, and to characterise the molecular epidemiology of the Enterococcus faecium isolates. Of the 826 unique episodes ...

We describe here the isolation of 8 beta-lactamase-producing multidrug-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates in 2010. All strains showed diverse pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiles, all belonging to the same clonal complex, CC17. By PCR and hybridization experiments, the entire blaZ-blaI-blaR1 operon was found. The beta-lactamase activity was demonstrated at a high inoculum and i...

Four Enterococcus faecium strains isolated from fermented products were evaluated for potential use as probiotic strains. In addition to efaAfm gene, commonly found in E. faecium food isolates, none of the isolates possessed virulence genes and none had positive reactions for the production of tyramine, histamine, putrescine and cadaverine in the screening medium used. All of these four isolate...

The clonal dissemination of VanB-type vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) strains in three Swedish hospitals between 2007 and 2011 prompted further analysis to reveal the possible origin and molecular characteristics of the outbreak strain. A representative subset of VREfm isolates (n = 18) and vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium (VSEfm, n = 2) reflecting the spread in time and loca...

Background: During the last decade, enterococci have become important nosocomial pathogens, representing the second leading cause of urinary tract infections. This increasing prevalence has been paralleled by the occurrence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and high-level gentamicin resistant (HLGR) strains. Methods: From September 2005 to 2006, a total of 638 enterococcal isolates were collected ...

The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) cross-transmission between two patient groups (long-term dialysis and kidney transplant patients). Molecular typing, by automated ribotyping with the RiboPrinter Microbial Characterization System (Qualicon, USA), was used to analyze VRE isolates from 31 fecal samples of 320 dialysis patients...

We conducted a prospective study to assess the risk factors, molecular epidemiology and outcome of bloodstream infection (BSI) due to Enterococcus faecium in hospitalized cancer patients. Between 2006 and 2012, a significant increase in vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium BSI was observed among cancer patients. Comparison of 54 episodes of BSI due to E. faecium with 38 episodes of BSI due to E. f...

BACKGROUND Enterococci are indigenous flora of the gastro-intestinal tracts of animals and humans. Recently, interest in two major species, E. faecium and E. faecalis, has heightened because of their ability to cause serious infections and their intrinsic resistance to antimicrobials. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence of E. faecium and E. faecalis in human faecal samples and ev...

a collection of enterococci  spp. (about 96 isolates) were isolated from two iranian raw milk cheeses, namely lighvan and koozeh, and subsequently, identified as enterococcus faecium , enterococcus faecalis , enterococcus durans , enterococcus casseliflavus and enterococcus italicus by 16s rdna sequencing. all of the 96 isolates were subjected to agar-spot and well-diffusion assay in order to d...