Study to determine the ability of clinical laboratories to detect antimicrobial-resistant Enterococcus spp. in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Few reports of vancomycin-resistant enterococci have appeared outside the USA. Therefore, we evaluated the ability of five laboratories in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to perform susceptibility testing using the disk diffusion method. Laboratories had difficulty identifying the low- and intermediate-level vancomycin-resistant phenotypes. This suggests that the disk diffusion method used by laboratories abroad may fail to detect some vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
Cookson
S T
ST
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Lopardo
H
H
Marin
M
M
Arduino
R
R
Rial
M J
MJ
Altschuler
M
M
Galanternik
L
L
Swenson
J M
JM
Tokars
J I
JI
Jarvis
W R
WR
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001118:Argentina; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000592:standards; D003470:Culture Media; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000592:standards*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003470:Culture Media; D014640:Vancomycin