The vanB gene cluster of enterococci confers resistance to vancomycin but not teicoplanin (4). In the United Kingdom, this cluster is found in approximately 15% of glycopeptideresistant enterococci from hospitalized patients (8), although proportions as high as 64 and 90% have been reported in some hospitals (9, 11). Three subtypes, based on nucleotide variability, have been designated vanB1, v...

From 1 January to 31 December 2011, 29 institutions around Australia participated in the Australian Enterococcal Sepsis Outcome Programme (AESOP). The aim of AESOP 2011 was to determine the proportion of enterococcal bacteraemia isolates in Australia that are antimicrobial resistant, with particular emphasis on susceptibility to ampicillin and the glycopeptides, and to characterise the molecula...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in urinary isolates in North America, and the activity of various antibiotics against VRE. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-eight medical centres in the United States and 10 centres in Canada assessed the prevalence of VRE in urinary isolates in 2002. Each study site was asked to collect up...

OBJECTIVES During a hospital surveillance programme to detect VRE carriers, an anaerobic vancomycin-resistant bacterial strain CCRI-9842 containing a vanB gene was isolated from a human faecal specimen. In this study, we have characterized this strain and its vanB-containing element. METHODS Strain CCRI-9842 was characterized by 16S rDNA sequencing and susceptibility testing. PCR mapping and ...

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) may be spread within a hospital via the contaminated hands of the healthcare worker. Effective hand disinfectants are necessary to break chains of transmission. We determined the bactericidal activity of 1-propanol, chlorhexidine digluconate (0.5 and 4%). Sterillium (45% 2-propanol, 30% 1-propanol and 0.2% mecetronium etilsulphate), Skinsept F (70% 2-propa...

BACKGROUND Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have emerged as a growing problem in hospitals; however, domesticated animals, poultry, and wild birds are acting as potential reservoirs. There is a knowledge gap in the Epidemiology of VRE from Bangladesh. METHODS To study the prevalence of VRE and the mechanisms of resistance implicated among wild birds, 238 fecal samples were collected in ...

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci acquire high-level resistance to glycopeptide antibiotics through the synthesis of peptidoglycan terminating in D-alanyl-D-lactate. A key enzyme in this process is a D-alanyl-D-alanine ligase homologue, VanA or VanB, which preferentially catalyzes the synthesis of the depsipeptide D-alanyl-D-lactate. We report the overexpression, purification, and enzymatic char...

Staphylococcus aureus is most frequently isolated pathogen causing bloodstream infections, skin and soft tissue infections and pneumonia. Recently, S. aureus have evolved resistance to both synthetic and traditional antibiotics. This study was carried out to isolate pathogenic S. aureus from post-operative pus sample, and VRSA was identified by evaluation of resistance patterns using convention...

Virtually all practices had a computer (79 [99%] of 80), Internet access (70 [88%] of 80), and email (53 [75%] of 71). Most (68 [91%] of 75) were comfortable using a Webbased application to submit case reports. However, because Internet access and email may not be universal, multiple modes of communication must be utilized. Furthermore, of 81 respondents, 29 (36%) indicated lack of time, and 24...

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium strains (VRE) were isolated from human wastewater but not swine fecal waste from a semiclosed agri-food system in Texas. Forty-nine VRE isolates possessed vanA, and one possessed vanB. Twenty-one pulsed-field gel electrophoresis types were identified and segregated into three groups. There was evidence of clonal dissemination among geographically separa...