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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 1999, p. 413-416, Vol. 37, No. 2
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium Colonization in Children

Nalini Singh-Naz,1,2,3,* Ambreen Sleemi,4 Andreas Pikis,1,5 Kantilal M. Patel,2,6 and Joseph M. Campos2,7,8,9

Departments of Infectious Diseases1 and Laboratory Medicine,7 and Center for Health Services and Clinical Research, Children's Research Institute,6 Children's National Medical Center, and Departments of Pediatrics,2 Pathology,8 and Microbiology/Immunology,9 and School of Public Health,3 George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana4; and Oral Infection and Immunity Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland5

Received 4 September 1998/Returned for modification 13 October 1998/Accepted 12 November 1998

Nosocomial vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) infections have been described in only small numbers of pediatric patients. In none of these studies were multivariate analyses performed to assess which factors were independent risk factors in these patients. In the present cohort study of patients admitted to our hematology/oncology unit, surveillance cultures revealed a colonization rate of 24% and all isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecium. Risk factors associated with colonization with VRE identified by multiple logistic regression analysis included young age and chemotherapy with antineoplastic agents, cefotaxime, vancomycin, and ceftazidime. A molecular epidemiological tool, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, was used to determine the relatedness of the VRE isolates detected. DNA analysis by this method identified two major clusters of VRE isolates. Young children with gastrointestinal colonization with VRE, without evidence of clinical infection, can serve as a reservoir for the spread of VRE.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Infectious Diseases, Children's National Medical Center, 111 Michigan Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20010. Phone: (202) 884-3956. Fax: (202) 884-3850. E-mail: nsingh{at}cnmc.org.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 1999, p. 413-416, Vol. 37, No. 2
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Harbarth, S., Cosgrove, S., Carmeli, Y. (2002). Effects of Antibiotics on Nosocomial Epidemiology of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 46: 1619-1628 [Full Text]  
  • Kobayashi, K., Rao, M., Keis, S., Rainey, F. A., Smith, J. M. B., Cook, G. M. (2000). Enterococci with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin in New Zealand. J Antimicrob Chemother 46: 405-410 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • BARNAUD, G., BINGEN, E. (2000). Genotypic characterisation of endemic VanA Enterococcus faecium strains isolated in a paediatric hospital. J Med Microbiol 49: 793-799 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bischoff, W. E., Reynolds, T. M., Hall, G. O., Wenzel, R. P., Edmond, M. B. (1999). Molecular Epidemiology of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium in a Large Urban Hospital over a 5-Year Period. J. Clin. Microbiol. 37: 3912-3916 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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