Studies of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus faecium Isolated from Clinical Samples in Tehran, Iran

Antibiotic resistance pattern and the plasmid profiles of Vancomycin Resistance Enterococcus faecium (VREF) isolated from hospitalized patients were analyzed. Four hundred and fourteen enterococcal isolates from the clinical specimens including Urine, wound and respiratory tract secretions were obtained from patients hospitalized in three major hospitals in Tehran. Antibiotic susceptibility test, plasmid extraction and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for van A and van B were done. It was shown that most of the isolates (95%) were resistant to four antibiotics. The results showed 15 different plasmid profiles among the 19 VREF isolates. The number of plasmids in each of the VREF isolates varied from 2-7. Analysis of plasmid profiles revealed that none of the isolates from three hospitals had identical patterns, indicative of lack of inter-hospital transmission. On the other hand, six isolates from different wards from a single hospital showed identical plasmid pattern, suggestive of intrahospital transmission of VREF isolates.