title: High prevalence of ST-78 infection-associated vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium from hospitals in Asunción, Paraguay.
abstract: Forty infection-associated VanA-type vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) strains obtained from five collaborating hospitals in Asunción, Paraguay were investigated. Genotyping using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing revealed the presence of 17 cluster types and four STs, with 93% (37/40) of isolates comprising ST type 78. Other ST types included ST-132, ST-210 and one new ST type (ST-438). All but one isolate (ST-438) were associated with clonal complex 17 (CC17), and 97% of the total isolates carried the esp gene. Three Tn1546 variants were found, including a new lineage containing an ISEfa5 insertion in an existing IS1251 element.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Northwood
authors.forename: R G J
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Loor
authors.forename: A T R
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Tholen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Riera
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falcón
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Belkum
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Westreenen
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hays
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases / Q000235:genetics; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005838:Genotype; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D010239:Paraguay / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C071437:VanA ligase, Bacteria; D019729:Carbon-Oxygen Ligases