Rapid detection of vancomycin-resistant enterococci

Abstract

Campylobacter blood agar with clindamycin incubated in 6% CO2 served as a medium to both screen for vancomycin resistance and select for presumptive enterococci. Colonies that grew on the medium were specifically identified as enterococci within 30 min by the pyroglutamyl-beta-naphthylamide and rapid bile esculin tests. The combination of a selective medium plus rapid enzyme substrate tests offered an inexpensive means to enumerate vancomycin-resistant enterococci from specimens by using readily available reagents.