Vancomycin-resistant enterococci among haemodialysis patients in Portugal: Prevalence and molecular characterization of resistance, virulence and clonality

Correia, Susana; Ponce, Pedro; Jones-Dias, Daniela; Caniça, Manuela; Igrejas, Gilberto; Poeta, Patrícia

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/2959

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Introduction: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) among haemodialysis patients has increased rapidly and, to date, there is no report of this incidence in Portugal. Methods: A total of 121 faecal samples were collected from haemodialysis patients, and then tested for VRE. Antimicrobial resistance, virulence and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were studied. Results: VRE prevalence was 3.3%. Three VRE isolates, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus raffinosus, were multi-resistant and vanA-positive. E. faecium and E. faecalis belonged to CC17 and CC2, respectively. Conclusion: Haemodialysis patients in Portugal are colonized with virulent, multi-resistant enterococci from high-risk clonal complexes, representing a public health concern.