Transition of Enterococcus faecium from commensal organism to nosocomial pathogen.
The Gram-positive species Enterococcus faecium has long been thought of as a harmless commensal of the mammalian GI tract. In the last two decades, however, E. faecium has become an important cause of nosocomial bacteremias. These infections are often difficult to treat owing to the resistance of E. faecium to a large number of antibiotics. In this article, we review the recent transition of E. faecium from commensal to nosocomial pathogen. We focus on population biology-based studies, which suggest that several clonal populations of E. faecium are mostly responsible for causing infections. We also discuss the role of the accessory genome of E. faecium in contributing to the infectious phenotype and examine the role that surface proteins of E. faecium may have in colonization and infection.
Willems
Rob Jl
RJ
Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan, CX Utrecht, The Netherlands. rwillems@umcutrecht.nl
van Schaik
Willem
W
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D008565:Membrane Proteins