Enterococci are leading causes of nosocomial bacteremia, surgical wound and urinary tract infections. They are ubiquitous bacteria commonly occurring in foods, and in recent years there has been increased attention towards multidrug strains incidence, since they may cause the failure of therapeutic treatments. Therefore, we analyzed the occurrence of Enterococcus species isolated from raw meat (beef, chicken and pork), cheese, and ready-to-eat salads, and the change of the antibiotic resistance in Enterococcus faecium and E. faecalis strains in a 14 year survey. Among the 589 Enterococcus strains, E. faecium and E. faecalis represented the most numerous species in all types of food examined (42.8% and 38.7% respectively). Antibiotic resistance and number of Multi Drug Resistant strains have increased, reaching very high levels from 2002 to 2015. In the last two years, E. faecalis isolates sometimes reached percentages of resistance higher than 40% against tetracycline, vancomycin, linezolid, erythromycin, and ampicillin. Antibiotic resistance in E. faecium was lower than in E. faecalis for almost all antimicrobials tested. The highest percentage of resistance in 2014-2015 was registered for erythromycin (42.5%), followed by tetracycline (30%), ciprofloxacin, and linezolid (both 27.5%). The number of resistant phenotypes also increased during this survey in both species to more than 20 in 2014-2015. Despite the fact that Enterococcus spp. do not represent a problem for immunocompetent individuals, surveillance of antibiotic resistance in this kind of micro-organism continues to be important because, as shown in our results, antibiotic resistance has sharply increased in recent years.

Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in Enterococci: A 14 Year Survey / Carmela Calonico*, Giovanna Pesavento, Vania Delfino, Sara Forni, Antonella Lo Nostro. - In: JOURNAL OF FOOD AND NUTRITION RESEARCH. - ISSN 2333-1240. - ELETTRONICO. - Vol. 6:(2018), pp. 626-637. [10.12691/jfnr-6-10-3]

Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in Enterococci: A 14 Year Survey

Carmela Calonico
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;
DELFINO, VANIA
Methodology
;
Antonella Lo Nostro
Project Administration
2018

Abstract

Enterococci are leading causes of nosocomial bacteremia, surgical wound and urinary tract infections. They are ubiquitous bacteria commonly occurring in foods, and in recent years there has been increased attention towards multidrug strains incidence, since they may cause the failure of therapeutic treatments. Therefore, we analyzed the occurrence of Enterococcus species isolated from raw meat (beef, chicken and pork), cheese, and ready-to-eat salads, and the change of the antibiotic resistance in Enterococcus faecium and E. faecalis strains in a 14 year survey. Among the 589 Enterococcus strains, E. faecium and E. faecalis represented the most numerous species in all types of food examined (42.8% and 38.7% respectively). Antibiotic resistance and number of Multi Drug Resistant strains have increased, reaching very high levels from 2002 to 2015. In the last two years, E. faecalis isolates sometimes reached percentages of resistance higher than 40% against tetracycline, vancomycin, linezolid, erythromycin, and ampicillin. Antibiotic resistance in E. faecium was lower than in E. faecalis for almost all antimicrobials tested. The highest percentage of resistance in 2014-2015 was registered for erythromycin (42.5%), followed by tetracycline (30%), ciprofloxacin, and linezolid (both 27.5%). The number of resistant phenotypes also increased during this survey in both species to more than 20 in 2014-2015. Despite the fact that Enterococcus spp. do not represent a problem for immunocompetent individuals, surveillance of antibiotic resistance in this kind of micro-organism continues to be important because, as shown in our results, antibiotic resistance has sharply increased in recent years.
2018
Vol. 6
626
637
Carmela Calonico*, Giovanna Pesavento, Vania Delfino, Sara Forni, Antonella Lo Nostro
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
jfnr-6-10-3.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Pdf editoriale (Version of record)
Licenza: Open Access
Dimensione 465.55 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
465.55 kB Adobe PDF

I documenti in FLORE sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/1139166
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 105
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact