Multidrug resistant Enterococci isolated from urine samples at a tertiary care hospital

• Author Details:   
• Saraswathy MP

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 Enterococci are one of the important causes of nosocomial urinary tract infections. They are considered as difficult to treat pathogens, due to their intrinsic resistance to several antimicrobial agents and their tendency to acquire resistance. Hence it is essential to find their resistance pattern constantly to institute empirical therapy and as a measure of infection control in hospitals. This study was carried out in the tertiary care hospital at Melmaruvathur, Tamil Nadu to detect resistance pattern and virulence traits of various uropathogenic Enterococcus species. A total of 100 Enterococcus species were included in the study. Although E.faecalis (87%) was commonest species associated with UTI, there was lenience towards E.faecium (9%), necessitates species level identification in laboratory settings. More than half of the species were isolated as mixture of two (47%) or three bacteria (7%). E.faecalis was sensitive to Vancomycin (100%), Ofloxacin (61%), Ciprofloxacin (59%), erythromycin (46%), Amikacin (41%), tetracycline (36%) and HLGR (23%). Increased incidence of Multidrug resistance and association of mixed infections warrant culture and sensitivity for all urinary tract infections.

Key words: Multidrug Resistant Enterococcus, Urinary tract infection, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium