Vancomycin resistant Enterococci: A brief review.

Abstract

Enterococci are known as opportunistic pathogens and today are accepted as leading cause of nosocomial infections. Various enterococcal species have been identified, but the major two which cause human diseases are enterococcus faecalis and enterococcus faecium. Most common and important infections caused by them are bacteraemia, endocarditis, urinary tract infections, surgical wound infections, intra-abdominal and intra-pelvic infections. Over the last two decades the emergence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci is alarming because of high mortality rate. Being resistant nosocomial infectious agents, vancomycin-resistant enterococci are a serious threat to current healthcare practices. Antibiotic resistance determinants VanA and VanB are globally reported in vancomycin-resistant enterococci clinical isolates. This paper covers a comprehensive overview of vancomycin-resistant enterococci infection epidemiology, virulence, drug resistance, its prevention and treatment.