title: Low prevalence of vancomycin resistant enterococci colonization in intensive care patients in a Brazilian teaching hospital.
abstract: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are important pathogens involved in nosocomial infections. Colonization precedes infection and the number of colonized individuals is about 10 times higher than the number of infected patients. We examined VRE colonization in two intensive care units from October 2003 to June 2004. Perirectal swab specimens were obtained from all patients, starting on the 5th day after admission, and then weekly. A total of 249 swabs were obtained from 112 patients. Nine patients had VRE-positive swabs, giving a positive rate of 8.0%. The rate of patients colonized by V-R E. faecalis was 1.8% (n=2), 4.5% by V-R E. gallinarun (n=5) and 1.8% by V-R E. casseliflavus (n=2). No V-R E. faeciun was isolated. None of the patients that had been colonized by VRE were found to be infected by these pathogens. In summary, a low prevalence of colonization by VRE was found in our institution. Only a structured surveillance program, based on active searching, was able to detect this low number of cases.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Hospital, Medical Science Faculty, State University of Campinas, SP, Brazil. tresoldi@hc.unicamp.br
authors.forename: Antonia T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Tresoldi
authors.forename: Luis Gustavo O
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: Giane V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Castilho
authors.forename: Sônia R P E
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Dantas
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Nowakonski
authors.forename: Ricardo M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Plínio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trabasso
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents