First characterization of a cluster of VanA-type glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium, Colombia.
From August 1998 to October 1999, glycopeptide-resistant enterococci (GRE) were isolated from 23 infected patients at a teaching hospital in Medellín, Colombia. Identification at the species level and by multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay indicated that all isolates were Enterococcus faecium. The isolates were highly resistant to ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, penicillin, streptomycin, teicoplanin, and vancomycin; they were susceptible only to chloramphenicol, linezolid, and nitrofurantoin. Determination of glycopeptide genotype indicated the presence of the vanA gene in all isolates. Molecular typing by pulsed field gel electrophoresis showed that all isolates were closely related. This study is the first molecular characterization of GRE in Colombia.
Panesso
Diana
D
Bacterial Molecular Genetics Unit, Centro de Investigationes, Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá, Columbia.
Ospina
Sigifredo
S
Robledo
Jaime
J
Vela
María Claudia
MC
Peña
Julieta
J
Hernández
Orville
O
Reyes
Jinnethe
J
Arias
César A
CA
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases / Q000235:genetics*; D003105:Colombia; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005838:Genotype; D006020:Glycopeptides; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006020:Glycopeptides; C071437:VanA ligase, Bacteria; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases