Sepsis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Sepsis, including details on septicemia, diagnosis, symptoms, treatment.

Vancomycin resistance, esp, and strain relatedness: a 1-year study of enterococcal bacteremia.

Harrington SM, Ross TL, Gebo KA, Merz WG

Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD 21287-7093, USA.

The prevalence of esp, a gene associated with infection-derived and outbreak strains, in enterococcal blood isolates from 2002 was determined. Fifty-five of 137 (40.1%) Enterococcus faecalis isolates, 30 of 58 (51.7%) E. faecium isolates, 1 of 1 E. raffinosus isolate, 0 of 4 E. gallinarum isolates, and 0 of 1 E. casseliflavus isolate were positive. esp wasn't associated with vancomycin resistance (VR) or clinical service. VR E. faecium isolates were less genetically diverse than vancomycin-susceptible strains. A large cluster of VR isolates, belonging to esp-positive E. faecium, was revealed. These data support the hypothesis that esp and VR may contribute to dissemination of particular clones.

Published 7 December 2004 in J Clin Microbiol, 42(12): 5895-8.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Sepsis Research Today. All Rights Reserved.