Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 2018; 20(1):55-61
To detect vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) using chromogenic selective medium CHROMagar™VRE (CHROMagar, France).
In the first part of the study, a total of 39 vancomycin-resistant and 20 vancomycinsusceptible Enterococcus spp. isolated from blood culture with known susceptibility profiles were incubated on the CHROMagar™VRE (CHROMagar, France) and examined after 24 h and 48 h of incubation. In the second part of the study, a total of 110 rectal swabs were taken from patients with hematological malignancies and incubated on the CHROMagar™VRE. The vancomycin susceptibility of isolates grown on the selective medium was further evaluated by the broth microdilution method (CLSI, 2017). Glycopeptide resistance genes were detected by PCR.
Using the CHROMagar™VRE, a total of 36 (92.3%) vancomycin-resistant isolates were detected after 24 h and additional two isolates – after 48 h of incubation. The sensitivity of the selective medium for detection of VRE obtained from blood culture was 92% and 97% after 24 h and 48 h of incubation, respectively. All 20 vancomycin-susceptible enterococci did not grow on the CHROMagar™VRE (specificity – 100%). Of 110 rectal swabs, 35 (31.8%) samples were positive for Enterococcus spp. on the CHROMagar™VRE (33 – E. faecium и 2 – E. faecalis). Resistance to vancomycin was detected in 32⁄33 (97%) E. faecium isolates, of them 28 and 4 strains were isolated after 24 h and 48 h of incubation; all VRE strains carried vanA gene. The proportion of false positive isolates was 3.4% after 24 h of incubation and 8.6% after 48 h of incubation on the CHROMagar™VRE medium for screening of VRE from rectal swabs.
The chromogenic selective media CHROMagar™VRE has a high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of VRE and can be used for screening in laboratory practice.