title: Microbiological and epidemiological studies of Enterococcus faecium resistant to amoxycillin in a university hospital in eastern France.
abstract: Over 3 years, during six 1-month periods of surveillance, 69 cases of Enterococcus faecium colonisation or infection were detected in a university hospital in eastern France. Thirty-two cases involved strains resistant to amoxycillin (crude incidence of 0.21/1000 patient-days). The risk of infection with E. faecium was higher if the patient was hospitalised in a haematology ward and/or treated with cephalosporins. Amoxycillin-resistant isolates (AmRE) were isolated from different wards and time periods, and none of the characteristics studied were associated significantly with amoxycillin resistance. Amoxycillin-sensitive and -resistant isolates were characterised by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Three epidemic patterns were identified which contained 87.5% (28/32) of the AmRE isolates, indicating that clonal spread was responsible, at least partially, for the high incidence of AmRE in this hospital.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Hygiène Hospitalière et d'Epidémiologie moléculaire, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Jean Minjoz, Besançon, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thouverez
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Talon
mesh_terms: D000658:Amoxicillin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases / Q000235:genetics; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005602:France; D005838:Genotype; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010403:Penicillin Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C071437:VanA ligase, Bacteria; C079913:VanB protein, Enterococcus; D000658:Amoxicillin; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases