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Assessment of high-level gentamicin and glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium clonal structure in a Portuguese hospital over a 3-year period

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Abstract

This study focussed on the clonal structure and temporal distribution of E. faecalis and E. faecium with high-level resistance to gentamicin (HLGR) and glycopeptides (GR) collected from clinical samples during 2004 to 2006 at a Portuguese Hospital. The findings were an E. faecalis-dominant and epidemic clone (PFGE-AO), the maintenance of a major epidemic E. faecium clone (PFGE-c) and a high prevalence of putative virulence genes—asa1 (aggregation substances), gelE (gelatinase), cylA (cytolysin), esp (enterococcal surface protein), and hyl (hyaluronidase)—most of them significantly associated with the major clones of both species. The E. faecalis GR isolates ST6 and the E. faecium GR isolates ST17, ST18 and ST280 belong to the clonal complexes E. faecalis-CC2 and E. faecium-CC17, which are well adapted to the nosocomial setting and are disseminated worldwide. This study highlights the need for continuous and active surveillance in this Portuguese hospital in order to follow the evolution of these epidemic and persistent clones.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financed by grant Projects: Refa. FCG 65882-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (FCG), Refa. POCI/SAU-ESP/58030/2004-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal awarded by R. Mato. R. Pires-grant Refa. 65882 (2005-2007) (FCG). P. Rodrigues and F. Almeida-grants Refa. POCI/SAU-ESP/58030/2004, 2006-2007 (FCT). We gratefully acknowledge R. Tenreiro, PhD, and L. Chambel PhD, from FC/UL, Lisbon, and Prof. H. de Lencastre PhD, from ITQB/UNL, Oeiras, Portugal, for their assistance in the establishment and analysis of dendograms, and Prof. H. de Lencastre and V. Vankerckhoven, from the University of Antwerp, Belgium, who kindly provided the enterococcal control strains. The authors also thank Raquel Portela for technical assistance.

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Author notes

  1. R. Pires

    Present address: Centro de Recursos Microbiológicos (CREM) da Faculdade Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCT/UNL), Monte da Caparica, Portugal

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, (ITQB/UNL), Rua da Quinta Grande n°6, Apt 127, 2780-156, Oeiras, Portugal

    R. Mato, F. Almeida, R. Pires & P. Rodrigues

  2. Laboratory of Microbiology, Hospital Santo António dos Capuchos, Lisbon, Portugal

    T. Ferreira

  3. Centro de Recursos Microbiológicos (CREM) da Faculdade Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCT/UNL), Monte da Caparica, Portugal

    I. Santos-Sanches

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  1. R. Mato
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  2. F. Almeida
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Correspondence to R. Mato.

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Mato, R., Almeida, F., Pires, R. et al. Assessment of high-level gentamicin and glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium clonal structure in a Portuguese hospital over a 3-year period. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 28, 855–859 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-009-0704-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-009-0704-x

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