TY - JOUR
T1 - Concomitant High-Level Vancomycin and Penicillin Resistance in Clinical Isolates of Enterococci
AU - Handwerger, Sandra
AU - Perlman, David C.
AU - Altarac, David
AU - McAuliffe, Vincent
PY - 1992/3/1
Y1 - 1992/3/1
N2 - Enterococci are important nosocomial pathogens among which resistance to multiple antibiotics is being recognized with increasing frequency. We characterized three clinical isolates from three New York City hospitals that demonstrated concomitant resistance to vancomycin (one VanA, two VanB phenotypes) and high-level resistance to penicillin. Two Enterococcus faecium strains were intrinsically highly resistant to penicillin and showed very low affinity for penicillin of penicillin-binding protein 5. Unlike previously described glycopeptide-resistant enterococci, these strains were not hypersusceptible to ²-lactam agents after vancomycin induction, and combinations of penicillin and vancomycin were not synergistic against them. A third isolate, Enterococcus faecalis, produced ²-lactamase. Two of the three strains were also highly resistant to all aminoglycosides. Emergence of concomitant high-level resistance to multiple antibiotic classes among enterococci considerably narrows the therapeutic options for treatment of infections due to these opportunistic pathogens.
AB - Enterococci are important nosocomial pathogens among which resistance to multiple antibiotics is being recognized with increasing frequency. We characterized three clinical isolates from three New York City hospitals that demonstrated concomitant resistance to vancomycin (one VanA, two VanB phenotypes) and high-level resistance to penicillin. Two Enterococcus faecium strains were intrinsically highly resistant to penicillin and showed very low affinity for penicillin of penicillin-binding protein 5. Unlike previously described glycopeptide-resistant enterococci, these strains were not hypersusceptible to ²-lactam agents after vancomycin induction, and combinations of penicillin and vancomycin were not synergistic against them. A third isolate, Enterococcus faecalis, produced ²-lactamase. Two of the three strains were also highly resistant to all aminoglycosides. Emergence of concomitant high-level resistance to multiple antibiotic classes among enterococci considerably narrows the therapeutic options for treatment of infections due to these opportunistic pathogens.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0026505353&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/clinids/14.3.655
DO - 10.1093/clinids/14.3.655
M3 - Article
C2 - 1562656
AN - SCOPUS:0026505353
SN - 1058-4838
VL - 14
SP - 655
EP - 661
JO - Clinical Infectious Diseases
JF - Clinical Infectious Diseases
IS - 3
ER -