Molecular characterization of glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates from Portuguese hospitals

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2005 Jul;49(7):3073-9. doi: 10.1128/AAC.49.7.3073-3079.2005.

Abstract

Fifty-one pulsed-field gel electrophoresis types and 17 Tn1546 variants were identified among 101 Enterococcus faecium isolates recovered in three distant Portuguese hospitals. Intra- and interhospital dissemination of specific strains and Tn1546 types was detected, which might largely contribute to the endemicity of vancomycin-resistant E. faecium in Portuguese hospitals, as happened previously in other geographical locations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • DNA Transposable Elements
  • Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
  • Enterococcus faecium / classification
  • Enterococcus faecium / drug effects*
  • Enterococcus faecium / genetics
  • Enterococcus faecium / isolation & purification
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / epidemiology*
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / microbiology
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / transmission
  • Hospitals*
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Portugal / epidemiology
  • Vancomycin / pharmacology
  • Vancomycin Resistance / genetics*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • DNA Transposable Elements
  • Vancomycin