Susceptibility to quinupristin/dalfopristin and other antibiotics of vancomycin-resistant enterococci from the UK, 1997 to mid-1999

Susceptibility to quinupristin/dalfopristin and other antibiotics was studied for clinical isolates of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) referred by UK hospitals between January 1997 and June 1999. Single isolates of VRE from 858 patients in 136 hospitals were received, of which 76% were Enterococcus faecium and 21% were Enterococcus faecalis, the remainder comprising minor species. Most isolates were multi-resistant. After allowing for the effect of blood, which raised the MICs of quinupristin/dalfopristin four-fold, 98.3% of E. faecalis isolates and all the Enterococcus avium, Enterococcus casseliflavus and Enterococcus gallinarum appeared resistant to quinupristin/dalfopristin, whereas 98.8% of the E. faecium isolates and the single Enterococcus raffinosus isolate were susceptible.