Investigation of phenotypic resistance pattern of Enterococcus faecalis isolated from blood and urine samples of patients admitted to Rasoul Akram Hospital

Background: Nosocomial infections can be a major challenge for medical staff and health care providers when it comes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Enterococcus faecalis is one of the bacteria that plays an important role in nosocomial infection. Therefore, it is important to study the prevalence and pattern of resistance of this bacterium in medical centers, especially in hospitals. The aim of this study was study of phenotypic resistance pattern of Enterococcus faecalis isolated from blood and urine samples of patients admitted to Rasoul Akram Hospital Method: This cross-sectional study was performed from February 1997 to January 1998 at Rasoul Akram Hospital in Tehran. The origin of the isolated Enterococcus faecalis was urine and blood which were isolated from patients with urinary tract infections and bloodstream infections from the hospital. Antibiogram test was performed using disc diffusion method and E-test to measure the resistance of these isolates. Result: From 53 isolated Enterococcus faecalis, 46 samples (86.8%) were isolated from the urine and 7 samples (13.2%) were isolated from the blood. The most sensitive antibiotics for these isolates were Linzuide (52), 98.1%, Vancomycin (47), 88.7%, respectively and the most resistant antibiotics to these isolates were Gentamicin antibiotic (43), 81.1%, and rifampin (34), 64.2%. Conclution: The resistance of Enterococcus faecalis to antibiotics is increasing. Therefore, periodic monitoring of the resistance pattern of this bacterium can help effectively treatment of patients and reduce treatment costs.