Linezolid-resistant enterococci: report of the first isolates in the United Kingdom.
Linezolid, the first oxazolidinone antibacterial agent to be developed for clinical use, was licensed in the UK in early 2001. We report the first three examples of resistant enterococci (two isolates of Enterococcus faecium and one Enterococcus faecalis) isolated in the UK, which were obtained from patients who had received linezolid. The linezolid MICs for the resistant isolates were 64 mg/L. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of the linezolid-susceptible and -resistant isolates from two of the patients, combined with sequence analysis of rRNA, indicated that resistance developed in previously susceptible strains, most probably via a point mutation in the 23S rRNA.
Auckland
Cressida
C
Southampton Public Health Laboratory, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK. cressida@doctors.org.uk
Teare
Louise
L
Cooke
Fiona
F
Kaufmann
Mary E
ME
Warner
Marina
M
Jones
Graeme
G
Bamford
Kathy
K
Ayles
Helen
H
Johnson
Alan P
AP
D000081:Acetamides / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000069349:Linezolid; D008297:Male; D023303:Oxazolidinones / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006113:United Kingdom
D000081:Acetamides; D023303:Oxazolidinones; D000069349:Linezolid