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Detection and typing of vancomycin-resistance genes of enterococci from clinical and nosocomial surveillance specimens by multiplex PCR

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2001

J. J. LU ,
C. L. PERNG ,
T. S. CHIUEH ,
S. Y. LEE ,
C. H. CHEN ,
F. Y. CHANG ,
C. C. WANG  and
W. M. CHI
J. J. LU
Affiliation:
Division of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center Nosocomial Committee, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center
C. L. PERNG
Affiliation:
Division of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center
T. S. CHIUEH
Affiliation:
Division of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center
S. Y. LEE
Affiliation:
Division of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center
C. H. CHEN
Affiliation:
Division of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center Nosocomial Committee, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center
F. Y. CHANG
Affiliation:
Nosocomial Committee, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center
C. C. WANG
Affiliation:
Nosocomial Committee, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center Department of Pediatrics, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center
W. M. CHI
Affiliation:
Division of Clinical Pathology, Department of Pathology, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center
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Abstract

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Ninety-three clinical isolates of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) collected from nine hospitals in Taiwan were examined for the presence of vanA, vanB, vanC1, or vanC2/vanC3 genes by a multiplex PCR. Forty-seven of these VRE isolates were vanA positive, 1 contained both vanC1 and vanA, 40 harboured vanB, 2 were vanC1, and 3 were identified to be vanC2/vanC3. Twenty-four vanA isolates were sensitive to teicoplanin and thus did not have a typical VanA phenotype. Five isolates with the VanC phenotype harboured vanB. None of the 40 clinically isolated vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium or E. faecalis and the vancomycin-resistant Leuconostoc and Pediococcus isolates were positive for any of the van genes. While performing nosocomial surveillance, VRE were isolated from 47 of 467 rectal swabs by culture. Compared with the conventional culture method, the sensitivity and specificity of the multiplex PCR for detecting and identifying vancomycin-resistance genes in enterococci directly from culture-positive broth were 97·9% and 100%, respectively. The results suggest that genotypic characterization of vancomycin-resistance is necessary for all clinical VRE isolates and that the multiplex PCR assay can be an alternative method for this purpose.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 126 , Issue 3 , June 2001 , pp. 357 - 363
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press