title: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci colonization and bacteremia in patients with hematological malignancies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We retrospectively evaluated the rates of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) colonization and VRE-related infections in patients with hematological malignancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients in the hematology department of the Ministry of Health Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital, an 800-bed tertiary hospital in İstanbul, Turkey, older than 14 years of age and who developed febrile neutropenia during chemotherapy for hematological cancers between November 2010 and November 2012 were evaluated in this retrospective observational study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 282 neutropenic episodes in 126 patients who met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. The mean patient age was 51.73 ± 14.4 years (range: 17-82 years), and 66 cases occurred in male patients. The mean Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer score of patients with hematological malignancies was 17.18 ± 8.27. Fifty (39.68%) patients were colonized with VRE, and the mean number of VRE colonization days per patient was 34.27 ± 13.12 days. Only two patients developed VRE bacteremia: a male patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who survived the infection, and a female patient with acute myeloid leukemia who died from VRE bacteremia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with hematological malignancies accompanied by VRE colonization should be expected to develop VRE- or vancomycin-sensitive enterococci-related bacteremia under certain conditions, which include the development of severe mucositis, invasive procedures, and the use of intensive broad-spectrum antibiotics, even if infection control measures are implemented properly.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. habipgedik@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Habip
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gedik
authors.forename: Taner
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yıldırmak
authors.forename: Funda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Simşek
authors.forename: Arzu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kantürk
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arıca
authors.forename: Demet
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yokuş
authors.forename: Naciye
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Demirel
authors.forename: Ciğdem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arabacı
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D065507:Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055815:Young Adult