Prevalence of Enterococcus Species in Various Clinical Specimens and it’s Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital of Central Gujarat

Abstract

Background: Enterococci have become common cause of  hospital  acquired urinary  tract  infections,  wound  infections  and  bacteraemia. The   therapeutic  challenge  of  multiple drug  resistance  (MDR)  enterococci  have  brought  their  role  as important  nosocomial  pathogens  into  sharper  focus.  Hospital acquired  wound  infections  are  among  the  leading  cause  of morbidity  and  huge  economic  burden  associated  with  prolonged hospital.

Material and methods: A descriptive-cross sectional study carried out in the Department of Microbiology in Medical college Baroda & SSG Hospital, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Various samples like blood,  urine,  swab,  cerebro-spinal fluid  (CSF),  pleural  fluid,  body  fluid,  pus,  catheter  tip  were  taken from  clinically  suspected  cases  for  culture  and  antimicrobial sensitivity  testing according to CLSI guideline.  A total of  90  Enterococcus spp.  were  isolated  from  these  samples,  which  were  included  in  this study.

Results: Out  of  6555  culture  positive  isolates,  90  were Enterococcus  species.  The  prevalence  of  Enterococci  spp.  in our study  is  1.37%.  Out  of  total  90 isolates,  71%  (64 isolates)  were Enterococcus   fecalis  and 29%  (26 isolates)  were  Enterococcus faecium.  The  highest  number  of  Enterococcus  spp. were  isolated from  the  urine (48%) &  in  infant (30%).  The  rate  of  isolation of Enterococcus  was  more  in  males  (59%).  Enterococcus  spp.  from  various  samples  show  highest  sensitivity  to Linezolide  (99%).  Incidence  rate  of   VRE  isolates  in  the  present study  is  15.5%. 

Conclusion: The  prevention  and  control  of  spread of  multi  drug  resistant  Enterococci  require  co-ordination  effort  from various  departments  and  can  only  be  achieved  by education  of  hospital  staff  regarding  problem  of  drug resistance, prudent  use  of  antimicrobials, early  detection  and  reporting  and  immediate  implementation  of  appropriate  infection  control  measures, improved surveillance for  hospital  infection  control.