title: Frequency and antibiogram of vancomycin resistant enterococcus in a tertiary care hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the frequency of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) in a tertiary care hospital of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational, cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, from May 2011 to May 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus isolated from the clinical specimens including blood, pus, double lumen tip, ascitic fluid, tracheal aspirate, non-directed bronchial lavage (NBL), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), high vaginal swab (HVS) and catheter tips were cultured on blood agar and MacConkey agar, while the urine samples were grown on cystine lactose electrolyte deficient agar. Later the antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the isolates was carried out using the modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 190 enterococci were isolated. Of these, 22 (11.57%) were found to be resistant to vancomycin. The antimicrobial sensitivity pattern revealed maximum resistance against ampicillin (86.36%) followed by erythromycin (81.81%) and gentamicin (68.18%) while all the isolates were 100% susceptible to chloramphenicol and linezolid.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of VRE was 11.57% with the highest susceptibility to linezolid and chloramphenicol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and NUST, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Nazish
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Babar
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and NUST, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Javaid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Usman
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and NUST, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Tehmina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Munir
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and NUST, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Maria Mushtaq
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and NUST, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Rabia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anjum
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and NUST, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Mehreen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gilani
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and NUST, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Mehwish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Latif
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D063128:Tertiary Health Care; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D014640:Vancomycin