Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci: A Review of Antimicrobial Resistance Mechanisms and Perspectives of Human and Animal Health

.

.

Ahmed MO, Baptiste KE.

.

Microb Drug Resist. 2018 Jun;24(5):590-606. doi: 10.1089/mdr.2017.0147. Epub 2017 Oct 23.

Abstract

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are both of medical and public health importance associated with serious multidrug-resistant infections and persistent colonization. Enterococci are opportunistic environmental inhabitants with a remarkable adaptive capacity to evolve and transmit antimicrobial-resistant determinants. The VRE gene operons show distinct genetic variability and apparently continued evolution leading to a variety of antimicrobial resistance phenotypes and various environmental and livestock reservoirs for the most common van genes. Such complex diversity renders a number of important therapeutic options including “last resort antibiotics” ineffective and poses a particular challenge for clinical management. Enterococci resistance to glycopeptides and multidrug resistance warrants attention and continuous monitoring.

Keywords: .

Link/DOI: 10.1089/mdr.2017.0147