Abstract

Background: Multiple-drug-resistant enterococci and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are major cause of healthcare associated infections due to their antibiotic resistance traits. Among the enterococci, Enterococcus faecalis is an important opportunistic pathogen causing various hospital-acquired infections. Methods: A total of 51 E. faecalis strains were isolated from urinary tract infections (UTIs), bloodstream infections, respiratory tract infections, abdominal infections, and eye infection. They were identified by phenotypic and genotypic methods. Determination of multidrug-resistance was done according to multidrug-resistant (MDR) definition. The isolates that non-susceptible to at least 1 agent in �3 antimicrobial categories were defined as MDR. Detection of antimicrobial resistance genes was also performed using standard procedures. Results: According to MDR definition, all of the strains were MDR. Vancomycin resistance was found among 45.1 of strains. The vanA gene was detected in 58.8 of isolates, whereas vanB, and vanC 1 genes were not observed in any strain. Erythromycin resistance rate was 80.4 and the frequencies of ermB and ermC genes were 90.2 and 72.5, respectively. Also, the ermA and msrA genes were not present in any of the isolates. Conclusion: Our data indicates a high rate of MDR E. faecalis strains isolated from various infections. Distribution of vanA was notable among the isolates. Also, ermB and ermC were accountable for resistance to erythromycin. Since notable antimicrobial resistance was observed among all of the isolates, infection control procedures are recommended to be performed in hospital. © 2017.