Abstract
BackgroundEnterococcus species continues to be an important cause of hospital-acquired infection worldwide. This study was designed to determine the antibiotic resistance profiles, virulence genes and molecular characteristics of Enterococcus faecium strains isolated from an Iranian children hospital in a four-years period.ResultsA total 189 Enterococcus strains, comprising 108 (57%) E. faecium, 67 (35%) E. faecalis and 14 (7%) isolates of other spp. were isolated during the collection period. More than 92% of E. faecium isolates were resistant to ampicillin (92.5%), ciprofloxacin (96%), erythromycin (100%) and clindamycin (96%). A high frequency of resistance to clindamycin (100%), erythromycin (98.5%) and ciprofloxacin (80.5%) was observed among E. faecalis isolates, while resistance to ampicillin (7%) was less frequent. The prevalence of vanA gene among vancomycin resistant E. faecium and vancomycin resistant E. faecalis was 95 and 50%, respectively. The analysis of 108 E. faecium isolates revealed 34 variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) patterns and 27 Multi Locus VNTR Analysis (MLVA) types (MTs).ConclusionsThe results show a shift from E. faecalis to E. faecium as the dominant enterococcal species among patients at the children Hospital. Our data revealed that the majority of E. faecium isolates (66%) belonged to three common MTs and these types were isolated from different wards in children hospital.
Highlights
Enterococcus species continues to be an important cause of hospital-acquired infection worldwide
Two species (Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium) are responsible for the majority of enterococcal infections in humans and these species have become resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents such as vancomycin, aminoglycosides, macrolides, and tetracyclines [2, 3]
Antimicrobial susceptibility More than 92% of E. faecium isolates were resistant to ampicillin (92.5%), ciprofloxacin (96%), erythromycin (100%) and clindamycin (96%)
Summary
Enterococcus species continues to be an important cause of hospital-acquired infection worldwide. This study was designed to determine the antibiotic resistance profiles, virulence genes and molecular characteristics of Enterococcus faecium strains isolated from an Iranian children hospital in a four-years period. Enterococcus continues to be an important cause of hospital-acquired infection worldwide [1]. Despite the high incidence rate of resistant enterococci in Iran, especially VRE and HLGR [10, 11], there is limited information on enterococcal strains isolated from children infections. This study was Sattari-Maraji et al BMC Microbiology (2019) 19:156 designed to determine the antibiotic resistance profiles, virulence genes and the prevalence of different VNTR patterns among E. faecium strains isolated from an Iranian children hospital in a four-years period
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