Acquisition of antibiotic-resistant Enterococcus faecium strains during long-term hospitalization and fast adaptation of enterococcal flora to antibiotic treatment: a case report.

Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, Germany.

Recently, it has been suspected that long durations of hospitalization might be a possible risk factor to get colonized by multiple VRE strains. Here we present the case of a patient who underwent stem cell transplantation and subsequently stayed at the hospital for about 4 months until death. At least four different Enterococcus faecium strains were identified from routinely taken microbiological specimens as demonstrated by pulsed-field gel-electrophoresis. Additionally, these strains showed variable susceptibility to quinupristine/dalfopristine, vancomycin, and/or linezolid depending on different antibiotic administrations. These findings indicate that patients might be colonized with multiple Enterococcus faecium strains and that the enterococcal flora quickly adapts due to antibiotic exposure.

PMID: 18467172 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]