Dissemination of clonally unrelated erythromycin- and glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates in a tertiary Greek hospital.
Between September 1999 to February 2001, 25 glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium (GRE) isolates were recovered from a Greek hospital. The isolates exhibited 13 distinct chromosomal macrorestriction types by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and all were erythromycin and vancomycin resistant, carrying the genes vanA and ermB. Vancomycin resistance, always linked with erythromycin resistance, was transferable from 17 isolates. The dissemination of erythromycin-resistant GRE strains may, at least in part, reflect the extensive use of macrolides in husbandry in Greece.
Maniatis
A N
AN
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Thessalia, Larissa, Greece.
Pournaras
S
S
Kanellopoulou
M
M
Kontos
F
F
Dimitroulia
E
E
Papafrangas
E
E
Tsakris
A
A
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006020:Glycopeptides; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance / Q000235:genetics
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D006020:Glycopeptides; D004917:Erythromycin