Low prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in clinical samples from hospitalized patients of the Canary Islands, Spain Authors Xiomara Pérez-Hernández Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Sebastián Méndez-Álvarez Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; and Department of Cellular Biology and Microbiology, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain Teresa Delgado Microbiology Service, Canarian University Hospital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Antonio Moreno Microbiology Service, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain José Antonio Reyes-Darias Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Antonio Sierra López Microbiology Service, Canarian University Hospital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Jesús Villar Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Agustín González Microbiology Service, Hospital Dr. Negrín, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Antonio Manuel Martín Sánchez Microbiology Service, Hospital Insular, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Manuel Macía Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; and Nephrology Service, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain Félix Claverie-Martín Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Dr. Negrín, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Keywords: enterococcus, prevalence, glycopeptide, antibiotic resistance Abstract Over the last decade vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have emerged as nosocomial pathogens. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of VRE in clinical samples from hospitalized patients in the Canary Islands. From April to November 2000, 437 enterococci were isolated from patients hospitalized at the four main health care centers in those islands. Identification to the species level was performed with the GPS-TA (Vitek 1) or the Wider I system. A PCR assay was used to determine the genotype of glycopeptide resistance (vanA, vanB, vanC1, and vanC2/C3 genes). Only three (0.7%) VRE were detected: one vanA Enterococcus faecalis, and two vanC1 Enterococcus gallinarum. To our knowledge, this is the first VRE study carried out in the Canary Islands hospitals, and the results showed a low prevalence of VRE. Author Biographies Xiomara Pérez-Hernández, Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Sebastián Méndez-Álvarez, Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; and Department of Cellular Biology and Microbiology, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; and Department of Cellular Biology and Microbiology, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain Teresa Delgado, Microbiology Service, Canarian University Hospital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Microbiology Service, Canarian University Hospital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Antonio Moreno, Microbiology Service, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Microbiology Service, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain José Antonio Reyes-Darias, Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Antonio Sierra López, Microbiology Service, Canarian University Hospital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Microbiology Service, Canarian University Hospital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Jesús Villar, Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Agustín González, Microbiology Service, Hospital Dr. Negrín, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Microbiology Service, Hospital Dr. Negrín, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Antonio Manuel Martín Sánchez, Microbiology Service, Hospital Insular, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Microbiology Service, Hospital Insular, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Manuel Macía, Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; and Nephrology Service, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain Research Unit, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; and Nephrology Service, Hospital Universitario Ntra. Sra. de Candelaria, La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain Félix Claverie-Martín, Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Dr. Negrín, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Unidad de Investigación,Hospital Dr. Negrín,Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Downloads PDF Published 2010-09-21 Issue Vol. 5 No. 3 (2002) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.
