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The Emergence of Decreased Susceptibility to Vancomycin in Staphylococcus epidermidis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Denise O. Garrett ,
Elise Jochimsen ,
Kate Murfitt ,
Bertha Hill ,
Sigrid McAllister ,
Pat Nelson ,
Richard V. Spera ,
Richard K. Sall ,
Fred C. Tenover  and
Judy Johnston
...Show all authors
Denise O. Garrett*
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Elise Jochimsen
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Kate Murfitt
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Physicians Inc, Fairfax, Virginia
Bertha Hill
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Sigrid McAllister
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Pat Nelson
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Physicians Inc, Fairfax, Virginia
Richard V. Spera
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Physicians Inc, Fairfax, Virginia
Richard K. Sall
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Physicians Inc, Fairfax, Virginia
Fred C. Tenover
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Judy Johnston
Affiliation:
Dade MicroScan Inc, West Sacramento, California
Barbara Zimmer
Affiliation:
Dade MicroScan Inc, West Sacramento, California
William R. Jarvis
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
*
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mail Stop E69, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333
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Abstract

Background:

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are the major cause of nosocomial bloodstream infection. Emergence of vancomycin resistance among CNS is a serious public health concern, because CNS usually are multidrug-resistant, and glycopeptide antibiotics, among which only vancomycin is available in the United States, are the only remaining effective therapy. In this report, we describe the first bloodstream infection in the United States associated with a Staphylococcus epidermidis strain with decreased susceptibility to vancomycin.

Methods:

We reviewed the hospital's microbiology records for all CNS strains, reviewed the patient's medical and laboratory records, and obtained all available CNS isolates with decreased susceptibility to vancomycin. Blood cultures were processed and CNS isolates identified by using standard methods; antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and disk-diffusion methods. Nares cultures were obtained from exposed healthcare workers (HCWs) to identify possible colonization by CNS with decreased susceptibility to vancomycin.

Results:

The bloodstream infection by an S epidermidis strain with decreased susceptibility to vancomycin occurred in a 49-year-old woman with carcinoma. She had two blood cultures positive for CNS; both isolates were S epidermidis. Although susceptible to vancomycin by the disk-diffusion method (16-17 mm), the isolates were intermediate by MIC (8-6 μg/mL). The patient had received an extended course of vancomycin therapy; she died of her underlying disease. No HCW was colonized by CNS with decreased susceptibility to vancomycin.

Conclusions:

This is the first report in the United States of bloodstream infection due to S epidermidis with decreased susceptibility to vancomycin. Contact precautions likely played a role in preventing nosocomial transmission of this strain, and disk-diffusion methods may be inadequate to detect CNS with decreased susceptibility to vancomycin.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , March 1999 , pp. 167 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1999

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