[Screening for Staphylococcus aureus with a reduced susceptibility to vancomycin in: a Belgian hospital].
The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of vancomycin resistance in clinical methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates in our hospital by screening on Mueller-Hinton agar with 5 mg/l teicoplanin (MH-Teico), as recommended by the Comite de l'Antibiogramme of the Societe Francaise de Microbiologie (CA-SFM). Seventeen of 1002 clinical MRSA isolated from 404 patients showed in 2003 growth of at least four colonies on this medium, but only one was confirmed as homogeneous vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VISA) and five as heterogeneous VISA (hVISA) by population analysis. None of the patients presented with severe infection but awareness is needed and screening on MH-Teico as recommended by CA-SFM is a convenient method. Surveillance should be focused on patients with risk factors for selection of such strains: patients with a prolonged course of glycopeptide therapy and persistence of MRSA infection or colonization.
Département de Microbiologie, Academisch Ziekenhuis Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 101, B-1090 Bruxelles, Belgium. denis.pierard@az.vub.ac.be
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D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001530:Belgium; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D014640:Vancomycin