Host Specificity of Vancomycin‐ResistantEnterococcus faecium

作者：Rob J. L. Willems, Janetta Top, Nicole van den Braak, Alex van Belkum, Hubert P. Endtz, Dik J. Mevius, Ellen E. Stobberingh, A. E. van den Bogaard, Jan D. A. van Embden · 发表于：The Journal of Infectious Diseases · 年份：2000 · DOI：10.1086/315752 · 被引用次数：184 · 研究领域：Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus、Streptococcal Infections and Treatments、Bacterial Identification and Susceptibility Testing

Amplified-fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis was used to investigate the genetic relationships among 255 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) strains isolated from hospitalized patients, nonhospitalized persons, and various animal sources. Four major AFLP genogroups (A-D) were discriminated. The strains of each taxon shared >/=65% of the restriction fragments. Most isolates recovered from nonhospitalized persons (75%) were grouped together with all pig isolates in genogroup A. Most isolates from hospitalized patients (84%), a subset of veal calf isolates (25%), and all isolates from cats and dogs clustered in genogroup C. Most isolates from chickens (97%) and turkeys (86%) were grouped in genogroup B, whereas most veal calf isolates (70%) clustered in genogroup D. Therefore, VREF strains are predominantly host-specific, and strains isolated from hospitalized patients are genetically different from the prevailing VREF strains present in the fecal flora of nonhospitalized persons.