[Study of antibiotic resistance of enterococci strains received in 2009 in the National Reference Centre for Enterococci]

Abstract

Enterococci are a frequent cause of a variety of human infections, the most common being urinary tract infection followed by bacteraemia, meningitis and endocarditis from hospitalized patients.

Objective: The study and monitoring of antibiotic resistance of enterococci strains isolated and confirmed in 2009.

Materials and methods: Identification of 30 strains received in 2009 was based on phenotypic characteristics (microscopy, culture and biochemical characters); antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed according to CLSI standards 2009 by diffusion test and MIC by agar dilution and E-test.

Result: The strains belonged to the following species: E. faecalis (18), E. faecium (6), E. gallinarum (5), and E. durans (1), and were isolated from: blood cultures, urine, pus-wound, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and catheter. Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed susceptibility to different antibiotics depending on the species and also on the type of clinical samples.

Conclusions: Due to the small number of strains, no resistance phenotypes could be determined. As emergence of antibiotic resistant enterococci is well known, continuous surveillance of antibiotic susceptibility and molecular study of this issue are required.