Identification, antimicrobial resistance and genotypic characterization of Enterococcus spp. isolated in Porto Alegre, Brazil

Abstract

In the past two decades the members of the genus Enterococcus have emerged as important nosocomial pathogens worldwide. In the present study, we evaluated the antimicrobial resistance and genotypic characteristics of 203 Enterococcus spp. recovered from different clinical sources from two hospitals in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The species were identified by conventional biochemical tests and by an automated system. The genetic diversity of E. faecalis presenting high-level aminoglycoside resistance (HLAR) was assessed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of chromosomal DNA after SmaI digestion. The E. faecalis was the most frequent specie (93.6%), followed by E. faecium (4.4%). The antimicrobial resistance profile was: 2.5% to ampicillin, 0.5% to vancomycin, 0.5% teicoplanin, 33% to chloramphenicol, 2% to nitrofurantoin, 66.1% to erythromycin, 66.5% to tetracycline, 24.6% to rifampicin, 30% to ciprofloxacin and 87.2% to quinupristin-dalfopristin. A total of 10.3% of the isolates proved to be HLAR to both gentamicin and streptomycin (HLR-ST/GE), with 23.6% resistant only to gentamicin (HLR-GE) and 37.4% only to streptomycin (HLR-ST). One predominant clonal group was found among E. faecalis HLR-GE/ST. The prevalence of resistance among beta-lactam antibiotics and glycopeptides was very low. However, in this study there was an increased number of HLR Enterococcus which may be spreading intra and inter-hospital.

Trends in antimicrobial resistance among clinical isolates of enterococci in a Brazilian tertiary hospital: a 4-year study

“…Regarding tetracycline, although the enterococci resistance rate decreased over time, it remained high in 2009 (57%), but was slightly lower than that reported by the SENTRY Program for Latin America (67.2%) 31 and by other Brazilian studies performed with clinical enterococci strains isolated in 1996 and 1997 (62%) 32 and in 2006 and 2007 (66.5%) 8 . Likewise, the resistance rates to erythromycin were very high, despite the significant decrease observed (95% to 80.6%), confirming that resistance to this drug is very common among enterococci 1,8,31,33 .…”

“…Likewise, the resistance rates to erythromycin were very high, despite the significant decrease observed (95% to 80.6%), confirming that resistance to this drug is very common among enterococci 1,8,31,33 .…”

“…Approximately ten years later, the first VRE were isolated in Brazil, in the States of Paraná and São Paulo, located in the southern and southeastern regions of the country, respectively 6,7 . Although these VRE isolates belong to Enterococcus faecium species, until recently in Brazil, Enterococcus faecalis was the predominant VRE commonly reported in hospitals in the State of São Paulo [8][9][10][11][12][13] .…”

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Enterococci Isolated From Patients in Tehran

“…They have been associated with infections of the urinary tract, post-surgical wounds, septicemia, endocarditis, and meningitis (1,2). They have a remarkable ability to adapt to exposure to antibacterial agents and possess intrinsic resistance to penicillins and low-level resistance to aminoglycosides.…”

Detecção de <i>Enterococcus</i> resistentes a vancomicina em criações comerciais de ovinos e caprinos das regiões centro-leste e nordeste do Estado de São Paulo

“…Nesse sentido, a resistência contra a tetraciclina (24,1%) encontrada no presente estudo representou metade do percentual encontrado no estudo realizado por Menezes et al (2005), onde 48% dos isolados de enterococos em infecções urinárias em humanos foram resistentes a essa droga. Autores como Bender et al (2009) encontraram que a maioria dos isolados para esse grupo foram altamente suscetíveis a vários antibióticos (ampicilina, vancomicina, teicoplanina e nitrofurantoina), mas apenas cinco (2,5%) foram enterococos resistentes à ampicilina e somente um (0,5%) foi resistente à vancomicina.…”