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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 1999, p. 2148-2152, Vol. 37, No. 7
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0

Proficiency of Clinical Laboratories in Spain in Detecting Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus spp.

Juan Alonso-Echanove,1 Belen Robles,2 William R. Jarvis,1,* and The Spanish VRE Study Groupdagger

Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333,1 and Consejeria de Servicios Sociales, Oviedo, Principado de Asturias, 33005, Spain2

Received 23 December 1998/Returned for modification 1 February 1999/Accepted 25 March 1999

Studies in a variety of U.S. clinical laboratories have demonstrated difficulty in detecting intermediate and low-level vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). The misclassification of "at least intermediate resistant isolates" as vancomycin susceptible may have both clinical implications and a negative impact on measures to control the spread of VRE. No published study has assessed the ability of clinical laboratories in Europe to detect VRE. So, the apparent low prevalence of VRE in European hospitals may be, in part, secondary to the inability of these laboratories to detect all VRE. In an effort to assess European laboratories' proficiency in detecting VRE, we identified 22 laboratories in Spain and asked them to test four VRE strains and one susceptible enterococcal strain from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collection. Each organism was tested by the routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing method used by each laboratory. Overall, VRE were correctly identified in 61 of 88 (69.1%) instances. The accuracy of VRE detection varied with the level of resistance and the antimicrobial susceptibility method. The high-level-resistant strain (Enterococcus faecium; MIC, 512 µg/ml) was accurately detected in 20 of 22 (91.3%) instances, whereas the intermediate-resistant isolate (Enterococcus gallinarum; MIC, 8 µg/ml) was accurately detected in only 11 of 22 (50%) instances. Classification errors occurred in 27 of 88 (30.9%) instances. Misclassification as vancomycin susceptible was the most common error (16 of 27 [59.3%] instances). Our study shows that the participating Spanish laboratories had an overall acceptable proficiency in detecting VRE but that a substantial proportion of VRE isolates with low or intermediate levels of resistance were not detected. We recommend that studies be conducted to validate laboratory proficiency testing as an important step in the prevention and control of the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention MS E69, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-6413. Fax: (404) 639-6459. E-mail: wrj1{at}cdc.gov.

dagger The investigators participating in The Spanish VRE Study Group are listed in the appendix.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 1999, p. 2148-2152, Vol. 37, No. 7
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0


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