[Vancomycin resistant enterococcus in France. High prevalence in a young ambulatory care patient population].
OBJECTIVE
Assess the prevalence of asymptomatic carriage of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci in a population of healthy young French subjects.


METHODS
Stool samples obtained from 100 persons living in south-eastern France (20 sampling sites) were directly seeded on enriched selective media containing 6 mg/l vancomycin. Bacterial species and their resistant gene were identified with classical methods and multiplex genomic amplification.


RESULTS
The incidence of asymptomatic carriage was 17% with a homogeneous geographic distribution of the resistant strains. Nine Enterococcus faecium van A strains and 8 E. gallinarum van C1 strains were isolated.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings demonstrate carriage of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci in a population of young ambulatory subjects in France. The incidence observed was much higher than in an earlier study conducted in France. These results might be explained by a much more sensitive detection technique. Care should be taken to avoid dissemination in hospital settings.
Guerin
F
F
Service de Biologie médicale, Hôpital d'instruction des Armées Desgenettes, Lyon.
Perrier-Gros-Claude
J D
JD
Foissaud
V
V
Masseron
T
T
Thierry
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000187:drug effects*; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D013045:Species Specificity; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*
D014640:Vancomycin