[Molecular characterization of a glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecalis outbreak in an intensive care unit].
BACKGROUND
Between January and August 2003 glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecalis was isolated from eight patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).


METHODS
Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by disk diffusion and the Etest, clonal relatedness of the isolates was studied by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and the presence of vanA was investigated by PCR.


CONCLUSIONS
All the isolates were vanA-positive and had an identical PFGE pattern, showing that an outbreak had occurred in our ICU.
Maciá
María Dolores
MD
Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Son Dureta, Palma de Mallorca, Spain. mmaciaromero@hotmail.com
Juan
Carlos
C
Oliver
Antonio
A
Hidalgo
Olga
O
Pérez
José Luis
JL
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases / Q000235:genetics; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013030:Spain; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C071437:VanA ligase, Bacteria; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases