High-level gentamicin-resistant enterococci present problems in the treatment of infected patients, especially as synergy between penicillin and gentamicin is lost. Previous studies have suggested various risk factors for the acquisition of these enterococci. A case-controlled study was performed on 17 patients infected with resistant enterococci and 26 infected with sensitive strains who atten...

Multiple drug-resistant enterococci have become a significant cause of nosocomial infection (9, 11, 12). In particular, there are limited options for the treatment of enterococcal infection caused by high-level glycopeptide-resistant enterococci (9, 11). Infection or colonization by vancomycin-resistant enterococci was first reported in France (10) and the U.K. (14). Since then, vancomycin-resi...

We report here on the characterization of a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VREF) isolated from a dog with mastitis. The isolate was positive for the vanA, ermB, and tet(M) genes, with vanA and ermB carried on the same transferable plasmid. Comparison of this isolate with VREF from poultry and human sources in New Zealand demonstrated identical SmaI macrorestriction patterns and Tn1...

Sources of antibiotic resistant organisms, including concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), may lead to environmental surface and groundwater contamination with resistant enteric bacteria of public health concern. The objective of this research is to determine whether Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, and enterococci resistant to clinically relevant antibiotics are...

Thirty-four recent clinical isolates of Streptococcus faecalis were tested for sensitivity to amoxycillin, benzylpenicillin, streptomycin, kanamycin, gentamicin, tobramycin, and amikacin. Amoxycillin was two- to four-fold more active than benzylpenicillin and all strains were inhibited by low concentrations of the penicillins. The aminoglycosides were less active against the enterococci than we...

The activity of a new oxazolidinone antimicrobial, AZD2563, was assessed against >500 clinical isolates of enterococci representing six species. All isolates, including those resistant to other antibiotic classes, were inhibited by AZD2563 at concentrations </=2 micro g/ml, except for four strains resistant to linezolid. In most cases, AZD2563 was twofold more active than linezolid against ente...

After they were first identified in the mid-1980s, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) spread rapidly and became a major problem in many institutions both in Europe and the United States. Since VRE have intrinsic resistance to most of the commonly used antibiotics and the ability to acquire resistance to most of the current available antibiotics, either by mutation or by receipt of foreign g...