First Confirmed Case of a Vancomycin-ResistantEnterococcus faeciumwithvanAPhenotype from Brazil: Isolation from a Meningitis Case in São Paulo

Abstract

The importance of enterococci as a nosocomial etiologic agent is well documented; however, enterococci are also capable of causing a variety of community-acquired infections. Vancomycin resistance in a clinical Enterococcus isolate was first reported in 1986, and since then vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have been reported world-wide. This report describes a case of E. faecium with the VanA phenotype, isolated from meningitis in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Two E. faecium strains were isolated. One strain showed VanA phenotype, and the molecular characterization of the VanA gene was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. The other strain was susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. The authors would like to call the attention of the scientific community to this first identification of a VRE case in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Antimicrobial resistance of Enterococcus sp. isolated from the intestinal tract of patients from a university hospital in Brazil

“…Several hospitals located in São Paulo and some other Brazilian cities reported both outbreaks and isolated cases of VRE infection/colonization (Zanella et al 1999, 2003, Cereda et al 2001, Reis et al 2001, however the enterococci strains obtained in this study were van susceptible, indicating that vancomycin retains its therapeutic efficacy against E. faecalis and E. faecium in this hospital.…”

Trends in antimicrobial resistance among clinical isolates of enterococci in a Brazilian tertiary hospital: a 4-year study

“…Approximately ten years later, the first VRE were isolated in Brazil, in the States of Paraná and São Paulo, located in the southern and southeastern regions of the country, respectively 6,7 . Although these VRE isolates belong to Enterococcus faecium species, until recently in Brazil, Enterococcus faecalis was the predominant VRE commonly reported in hospitals in the State of São Paulo [8][9][10][11][12][13] .…”

Vancomycin use in a hospital with high prevalence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: comparison with Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committe Guidelines (HICPAC)

“…The occurrence of VRE in NNIS hospitals was associated with larger hospital size (i.e., a hospital with at least 200 beds) and university affiliation [11,12]. In Brazil, the first case was reported in São Paulo [14].…”