PMID- 21327628
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20110802
LR  - 20211020
IS  - 1439-0973 (Electronic)
IS  - 0300-8126 (Linking)
VI  - 39
IP  - 2
DP  - 2011 Apr
TI  - Molecular epidemiology of Enterococcus faecium isolates from an Italian hospital.
PG  - 127-33
LID - 10.1007/s15010-011-0086-8 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Outbreaks of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) strains 
      is an emerging problem worldwide. Even if still relatively uncommon in European 
      hospitals, infections caused by VRE have also been increasing recently in this 
      continent. METHODS: In this study, we characterized 50 consecutive VRE and 23 
      vancomycin-sensitive E. faecium (VSE) isolates collected in an Italian hospital. 
      The presence of the esp gene and that of genes encoding resistance to 
      glycopeptides was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All of the 
      isolates were typed by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), and a selection of 
      them also by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). RESULTS: We found that all 
      of the VRE and 18 (78%) of the VSE strains belonged to the single clonal 
      complex-17 (CC17). The most represented sequence type (ST) was ST78 (34% of the 
      isolates). When further analyzed by PFGE, ST78 isolates were subdivided into five 
      pulsotypes, four of them closely related. The strong association between the esp 
      gene and CC17 was confirmed. Interestingly, such an association was higher among 
      vancomycin-resistant isolates. Most of the esp-positive isolates (34/46, 74%) 
      encoded Esp4, a rare variant of this protein characterized by the absence of A 
      repeats. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings underscore the role of the CC17 lineage in the 
      nosocomial spread of VRE and VSE, and its rapid local evolution, underscoring the 
      need for programs designed to provide early detection in order to prevent its 
      spreading among the nosocomial population.
FAU - Fallico, L
AU  - Fallico L
AD  - Regional Reference Centre for Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Virology 
      Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera di Padova, Padova, Italy.
FAU - Boldrin, C
AU  - Boldrin C
FAU - Grossato, A
AU  - Grossato A
FAU - Franchin, E
AU  - Franchin E
FAU - De Canale, E
AU  - De Canale E
FAU - Tommasini, T
AU  - Tommasini T
FAU - Parisi, S G
AU  - Parisi SG
FAU - Manganelli, R
AU  - Manganelli R
FAU - Palu, G
AU  - Palu G
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20110215
PL  - Germany
TA  - Infection
JT  - Infection
JID - 0365307
RN  - 0 (Anti-Bacterial Agents)
RN  - 6Q205EH1VU (Vancomycin)
SB  - IM
MH  - Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology
MH  - Bacterial Typing Techniques
MH  - Cluster Analysis
MH  - Cross Infection/*epidemiology/microbiology
MH  - Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
MH  - Enterococcus faecium/*classification/drug effects/*genetics/isolation & 
      purification
MH  - Genes, Bacterial
MH  - Genotype
MH  - Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections/*epidemiology/microbiology
MH  - Hospitals
MH  - Humans
MH  - Italy
MH  - Microbial Sensitivity Tests
MH  - Molecular Epidemiology
MH  - Multilocus Sequence Typing
MH  - Vancomycin/pharmacology
EDAT- 2011/02/18 06:00
MHDA- 2011/08/04 06:00
CRDT- 2011/02/18 06:00
PHST- 2010/03/01 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2011/01/20 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2011/02/18 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2011/02/18 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2011/08/04 06:00 [medline]
AID - 10.1007/s15010-011-0086-8 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Infection. 2011 Apr;39(2):127-33. doi: 10.1007/s15010-011-0086-8. Epub 2011 Feb 
      15.