Antibiotic resistance of Enterococcus species: 3-year data

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of Enterococcus species and to evaluate susceptibilities to antimicrobial agents in a state (secondary) hospital. Material and Methods: A total of 1676 enterococci strains (490 E.faecium, 1146 E.faecalis, 10 E.casseliflavus/E.gallinarum and 30 other Enterococcus species) isolated from cultures obtained from January 2017 to December 2019 in XXX Hospital were included. Blood cultures were incubated in automated device (Render Biotech Co.Ltd., PRC). Other cultures were incubated with conventional methods. Grown colonies were identified by PhoenixTM 100 automated system (Becton Dickinson, USA). Identifications that need confirmation or strains identified to genus level were further evaluated with conventional techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing were performed by same system, Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion and gradient strip method according to EUCAST guidelines. Results: 43.1%, 27.1%, 14.7% and 15.1% of enterococci were isolated from urine, blood/sterile body fluids, wound/abscess and other samples. Majority of the strains were ciprofloxacin (72.0%) and levofloxacin (74.1%) resistant, and more than 40% showed ampicillin and high-level gentamicin resistance. Glycopeptide resistance was relatively high (5.4%), especially when considering E.faecium (12.1%). There was not any tigecycline and linezolid resistance. Conclusions: Antimicrobial resistance is a serious and growing public health problem affecting all countries, which is not just a topic of medicine, but multiple sectors such as commercial companies, food industry, veterinarians, etc. High percentages of resistance strongly indicate to get a local action, which should be followed by national and global one.