Distribution of antibiotic resistance among Enterococcus spp. isolated from 2017 to 2018 at the University Hospital "Luigi Vanvitelli" of Naples, Italy.

In the last decade Enterococcus spp. has become one of the most important nosocomial pathogens. The prevalence of multi-resistant strains of Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis responsible for hospital-acquired infections is associated with their ability to acquire and share antimicrobial resistance genes contained in Mobile Genetic Elements (MGE). This study investigated the distribution of antibiotic resistance in Enterococcus spp. isolated from clinical patients in the University Hospital "Luigi Vanvitelli" of Naples, Italy. The aim of the present study was to monitor the antimicrobial drug resistance and spread of nosocomial infection, to allow the optimal choice of antibiotic therapy. From January 2017 to December 2018, 351 Enterococcus spp. isolates were collected from different clinical samples, at the University Hospital “Luigi Vanvitelli”. Bacteria identification was made using MALDI-TOF technology (Bruker Daltonics, Bremen, Germany). Susceptibility to 9 antibiotics was tested using BD Phoenix (Becton, Dickinson and Company). Data were analyzed using the statistical software SPSS v.22.0 (IBM SPSS Inc., New York, USA). Among the 351 collected samples, 88 (25.1%) were identified as Enterococcus faecium and 263 (74.9%) were as Enterococcus faecalis. Enterococcus faecalis showed the highest resistance rate to Tetracycline (73,5%) and Erythromycin (88,6%) than the Enterococcus faecium. The Enterococcus faecium has showed increase in resistance rates against Ciprofloxacin and Imipenem. Persistent surveillance of antimicrobial patterns was essential to adopt the empirical treatment guideline to treat infection caused by Enterococcus spp.