Urinary tract infection caused by Enterococcus isolates: aetiology and antimicrobial resistance patterns

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyse the data on resistance in Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium isolated from urine samples of inpatients from January 2010 to December 2013. Compared to E. faecalis, E. faecium isolates were significantly more resistant to ampicilin, nitrofurantoin, and ciprofloxacin in the antimicrobial agents evaluated. Both species showed higher resistance to high-level gentamicin. The rate of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in E. faecium was higher as compared to that of E. faecalis, and we found that apparent increase in the frequency of VRE E. faecalis clinical isolates in the 4-year study period. In our study, analysis of the antimicrobial resistance trends showed resistance to linezolid and vancomycin were <30.2% and <20.3% in both species, respectively. Of noteworthy is the high rate of MDR in two species from inpatients. This study highlights that it is of importance for clinicians to promote rational drug utilization and delay the emergence of resistant organisms.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance,; Enterococcus spp.,; Urinary tract infection.