RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) in a tertiary care hospital of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN: Observational, cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, from May 2011 to May 2012. METHODOLOGY: Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus isolated from the clinical specimens including blood, pus, double lumen tip, ascitic fluid, tracheal aspirate, non-directed bronchial lavage (NBL), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), high vaginal swab (HVS) and catheter tips were cultured on blood agar and MacConkey agar, while the urine samples were grown on cystine lactose electrolyte deficient agar. Later the antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the isolates was carried out using the modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar. RESULTS: A total of 190 enterococci were isolated. Of these, 22 (11.57%) were found to be resistant to vancomycin. The antimicrobial sensitivity pattern revealed maximum resistance against ampicillin (86.36%) followed by erythromycin (81.81%) and gentamicin (68.18%) while all the isolates were 100% susceptible to chloramphenicol and linezolid. CONCLUSION: The frequency of VRE was 11.57% with the highest susceptibility to linezolid and chloramphenicol.