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. 2020 Feb 20;9(2):142.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens9020142.

Detection of β-Lactamase-Producing Enterococcus faecalis and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium Isolates in Human Invasive Infections in the Public Hospital of Tandil, Argentina

Celia M Schell  1 , Ana P Tedim  2   3 , Mercedes Rodríguez-Baños  2 , Mónica D Sparo  1   4 , Sabina Lissarrague  4 , Juan A Basualdo  1 , Teresa M Coque  2   3   5
Affiliations

Detection of β-Lactamase-Producing Enterococcus faecalis and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium Isolates in Human Invasive Infections in the Public Hospital of Tandil, Argentina

Celia M Schell et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

The study's aim was to analyze the population structure of enterococci causing human invasive infections in a medium-sized Argentinian Hospital coincidental with a 5 year-period of increased recovery of antibiotic resistant enterococci (2010-2014). Species identification (biochemical testing/MALDI-TOF-MS), antimicrobial susceptibility (disk-diffusion) and clonal relatedness (PFGE/MLST/BAPS) were determined according to standard guidelines. β-lactamase production was determined by a nitrocefin test and confirmed by PCR/sequencing. The isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium at a 2:1 ratio. Most of the E. faecalis isolates, grouped in 25 PFGE-types (ST9/ST179/ST236/ST281/ST388/ST604/ST720), were resistant to high-levels (HLR) of gentamicin/streptomycin. A ST9 clone (bla+/HLR-gentamicin) was detected in patients of different wards during 2014. E. faecium isolates were grouped in 10 PFGE-types (ST25/ST18/ST19/ST52/ST792), with a low rate of ampicillin resistance. Five vancomycin-resistant E. faecium, three vanA (ST792/ST25) and two vanB (ST25) were detected. The ST25 clone carried either vanA or vanB. The recovery of a bla+-ST9-E. faecalis clone similar to that described in the late 1980s in Argentina suggests the possibility of a local hidden reservoir. These results reflect the relevance of local epidemiology in understanding the population structure of enterococci as well as the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance in predominant enterococcal clonal lineages.

Keywords: Enterococcus faecalis; Enterococcus faecium; VRE; antibiotic resistance; bla+; invasive infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of antimicrobial resistance in E. faecalis and E. faecium strains isolated from invasive infections.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PFGE patterns of SmaI-digested genomic DNA of E. faecium strains analysed in this study. Line 1 to 21: λ, lambda ladder Marker. Line 2: C30-IRE1 vanB+; line 3: C38-IRE1; line 4: C47-IRE2 vanB+; line 5: C48-IRE1 vanA+; line 6: C31-IR; line 7: C32-IR; line 8: C34-IR; line 9: C45-IR; line 10: C52-IRE1; line 11: C16-IRE1; line 12: C20-IRE2; line 13: C35-IR; line 14: C7-IRE2; line 15: C14-IRE2; line 16: C40-IRE1; line 17: C44-IRE2 vanA+; line 18: C51-IRE2; line 19: C53-IR vanA+; line 20: C3-IR.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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