IntroductionEnterococci are part of the normal intestinal flora of humans and animals but have also emerged as important pathogens responsible for serious infections in hospital and community acquired infections. According to recent surveys, Enterococci remain in the top 3 most common pathogens that cause nosocomial infections. AimTo process all the clinical samples from various departments in our hospital, for the isolation of Enterococci sp. To speciate the isolates & to have the resistance pattern of the isolates to Vancomycin Methods and MaterialA total of 928 samples were collected from both out patients and in patients in all clinical departments and transported to microbiology laboratory. Specimens were processed by inoculating on to Mac Conkeys agar, blood agar, nutrient agar and Pfizer selective media and incubated at 370C for 24 48 hours. Enterococci were identified by their typical arrangement in Gram stain, Bile esculin test and salt tolerance test. Speciation was done by subjecting the isolates to a battery of biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were determined by performing Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values were identified by Tube & Agar dilution method. ResultsA total of 928 samples. Among these, 647 (69.72%) were culture positive with different isolates and 281 (30.28%) were culture negative. Among 647 culture positive cases, 100 (15.46%) were Enterococcus faecalis. Antimicrobial susceptibility & MIC done as per standard protocols. The E. Faecalis showed 99% sensitive to Vancomycin. The resistance to Vancomycin was further confirmed by MIC both Agar &Tube dilution methods, in which the MIC was: 32μg/ml in one isolate. ConclusionsSpecies level identification of Enterococcus is not only important for epidemiological study, but also for analysing the drug resistant pattern. Effective detection of Vancomycin resistance in laboratory helps in reducing the morbidity and mortality due to VRE in hospitalized patients. Key wordsBlood agar, Mac Conkeys agar, Bile esculin, Vancomycin resistant Enterococci, Minimum inhibitory concentration. International Journal of Medical and Clinical Research ISSN:0976-5530 & E-ISSN:0976-5549, Volume 3, Issue 4, 2012 Citation: Sunilkumar Jada and Karthika Jayakumar (2012) Prevalence of Enterococcus species from various clinical specimens in Shri Sathya Sai Medical College & Research Institute with special reference to speciation and their resistance to Vancomycin. International Journal of Medical and Clinical Research, ISSN:0976-5530 & E-ISSN:0976-5549, Volume 3, Issue 4, pp.-154-160. Copyright: Copyright©2012 Sunilkumar Jada and Karthika Jayakumar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction Enterococci are part of the normal intestinal flora of humans and animals but have also emerged as important pathogens responsible for serious infections in hospital and community acquired infections. The genus Enterococcus includes more than 17 species, but only a few cause clinical infections in humans [1]. Enterococci were originally classified as enteric gram-positive cocci and later included in the genus Streptococcus. In the 1930s, with the establishment of the Lancefield serological typing system, Enterococci were classified as group D streptococci and were differentiated from the non-Enterococcal group D streptococci such as Streptococcus bovis by distinctive biochemical