Prevalence of Enterococci with Higher Resistance Level in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Matter of Concern

Aims: Enterococcus species are major nosocomial pathogen and are exhibiting vancomycin resistance with increasing frequency.Continouous monitoring and determination of antimicrobial susceptibility pattern is a necessacity.The present study aims to determine the prevalence and susceptibility pattern of Enterococci in tertiary care hospital. Methods and Material: Total of 92 enterococcal strains isolated from various samples were identified and speciated as per scheme of Facklam and Collins. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined for various drugs by Kirby bauer disc diffusion method. Results were interpreted as per CLSI guidelines and were even compared with Vitek2 automated system. Results: 69 strains were E.faecalis, 21 were E.faecium and two were E.gallinarum. High level resistance to penicillin, ampicillin, gentamicin and streptomycin were observed. All strains were sensitive to linezolid and teicoplanin.8% strains showed vancomycin resistance which was detected by Vitek2 automated system. Conclusions: High rate of resistance to penicillin and amino glycosides is observed in our tertiary care hospital and emergence of VRE has further worsened this situation. So, there is an urgent need for more rational and restricted use of antimicrobials.