Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T11:21:39.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Outbreak of Infections in a Greek University Hospital Involving a Single Clone of High-Level Aminoglycoside-Resistant Enterococcus faecalis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Spyros Pournaras ,
Athanassios Tsakris ,
Mary E. Kaufmann ,
John Douboyas  and
Antonios Antoniadis
Spyros Pournaras
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki
Athanassios Tsakris*
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Mary E. Kaufmann
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Hospital Infection, Central Public Health Laboratory, London, United Kingdom
John Douboyas
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki
Antonios Antoniadis
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
*
Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54 006 Thessaloniki, Greece
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Among 145 Enterococcus faecalis isolates recovered during a 15-month period (April 1997-June 1998) in AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece, 94 (65%) exhibited high-level resistance to gentamicin or streptomycin and 61 (42%) to both aminoglycosides; 73% of the high-level aminoglycoside-resistant E faecalis isolates belonged to a single clone carrying the gene aac(6')-Ie-aph(2”)-Ia. These findings differ from those of other regions, where high-level aminoglycoside-resistance genes are dispersed into genetically unrelated strains.

Type
Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 21 , Issue 12 , December 2000 , pp. 786 - 789
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Eliopoulos, GM. Increasing problems in the therapy of enterococcal infections. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 1993;12:409–412.Google Scholar
2.Murray, BE. Diversity among multidrug-resistant enterococci. Emerg Infect Dis 1998;4:37–47.Google Scholar
3.Tsakris, A, Pournaras, S, Douboyas, J. Changes in antibiotic resistance of enterococci isolated in Greece. J Antimicrob Chemother 1997;40:735–737.Google Scholar
4.Murray, BE, Singh, KV, Heath, JD, Sharma, BR, Weinstock, GM. Comparison of genomic DNAs of different enterococcal isolates using restriction endonucleases with infrequent recognition sites. J Clin Microbiol 1990;28:2059–2063.Google Scholar
5.Morrison, D, Woodford, N, Barrett, SP, Sisson, P, Cookson, BD. DNA banding pattern polymorphism in vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and criteria for defining strains. J Clin Microbiol 1999;37:1084–1091.Google Scholar
6.Uttley, AH, George, RC, Naidoo, J, Woodford, N, Johnson, AP, Collins, CH, et al. High-level vancomycin-resistant enterococci causing hospital infections. Epidemiol Infect 1989;103:173–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Seetulsingh, PS, Tomayko, JF, Coudron, PE, Markowitz, SM, Skinner, C, Singh, KV, et al. Chromosomal DNA restriction endonuclease digestion patterns of β-lactamase-producing Enterococcus faecalis isolates collected from a single hospital over a 7-year period. J Clin Microbiol 1996;34:1892–1896.Google Scholar
8.van Den Braak, N, van Belkum, AKreft, D, te Witt, R, Verbrugh, HA, Endtz, HP. The prevalence and clonal expansion of high-level gentamicin-resistant enterococci isolated from blood cultures in a Dutcb university hospital. J Antimicrob Chemother 1999;44:795–798.Google Scholar
9.Ma, X, Kudo, M, Takahashi, ATanimoto, K, Ike, Y. Evidence of nosocomial infection in Japan caused by high-level gentamicin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis and identification of the pheromone-responsive conjugative plasmid encoding gentamicin resistance. J Clin Microbiol 1998;36:2460–2464.Google Scholar
10.Thal, LA, Chow, JW, Patterson, JE, Perri, MB, Donabedian, S, Clewell, DB, et al. Molecular characterization of highly gentamicin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis isolates lacking high-level streptomycin resistance. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1993;37:134–137.Google Scholar
11.Straut, M, de Cespedes, G, Delbos, F, Horaud, T. Molecular typing of Enterococcus faecalis strains resistant to high levels of gentamicin and isolated in Romania. J Antimicrob Chemother 1997;39:483–491.Google Scholar
12.Zervos, MJ, Mikesell, TS, Schaberg, DRHeterogeneity of Plasmids determining high-level resistance to gentamicin in clinical isolates of Streptococcus faecalis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1986;36:78–81.Google Scholar
13.Zervos, MJ, Kauffman, CA, Therasse, PM, Bergman, AG, Mikese1l, TS, Schaberg, DR. Nosocomial infection by gentamicin-resistant Streptococcus faecalis. An epidemiologic study. Ann Intern Med 1987;106:687–691.Google Scholar
14.Coque, TM, Seetulsingh, P, Singh, KV, Murray, BE. Application of molecular techniques to the study of nosocomial infections caused by enterococci. In: Woodford, N, Johnson, AP, eds. Molecular Bacteriology. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press; 1998:469–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar