[Study of the first outbreak of vanA enterococcus faecium in the Canary Islands].
BACKGROUND
In July, 2005 the first vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) with a genotype vanA was isolated in Hospital Universitario de Canarias (HUC). From September to December 2005, VREF vanA was isolated from another 15 patients (3 nosocomial infections and 12 rectal carriers). All of them were kidney transplant patients hospitalized in the Nephrology ward. This study describes the first VREF vanA outbreak in the HUC and the epidemiological link of the first VREF vanA isolates found in another two university hospitals in the Canary Islands.


METHODS
We studied a total of 22 VREF isolates by microbiological and molecular methods. Epidemiological and clinical data of the patients involved were collected.


CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed that these VREF isolates belonged to the same clone using pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). In November 2005 and February 2006, the first VREF were isolated in two other University Hospitals in the Canary Islands and we also confirmed the link with the HUC cluster by comparison of patient-related information with the molecular typing data. These VREF isolates belonged to the ST18 associated to the Clonal Complex-17 (CC17). CC17 is the major hospital adapted lineage, representing a polyclonal population and associated to VREF outbreaks and infections in the five continents.
Montesinos
Isabel
I
Departamento de Microbiología y Medicina Preventiva, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, La Cuesta, La Laguna, Canarias, España. imontesinos@huc.canarias.org
Campos
Silvia
S
Ramos
María José
MJ
Ruiz-Garbajosa
Patricia
P
Riverol
Débora
D
Batista
Nínive
N
Ojeda-Vargas
Mar
M
Sierra
Antonio
A
D000328:Adult; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016984:Enterococcus faecium; D005260:Female; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology