Korean J Infect Dis.  2001 Jun;33(3):181-185.

Susceptibility of Fosfomycin against Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci

• Park SD
• Uh Y
• Hwang GY
• Yoon KJ
• Kim HY

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) were first recovered from clinical isolates in Korea in 1992, and the incidence has been steadily increasing. Alternatives to vancomycin are few because VRE are frequently resistant to commonly used antimicrobial agents. The present study was designed to assess the in-vitro activity of fosfomycin to clinical isolates of VRE. METHODS: For 199 VRE isolates from 1995 to 2000, and 91 enterococcal isolates that were consecutively isolated during the January of 2001 at Wonju Christian Hospital, fosfomycin (200 microgram) disk diffusion test was done by NCCLS method. The number of enterococcal isolates tested for fosfomycin were as follows:58 E. faecalis (42 vancomycin susceptible isolates, 16 vancomycin resistant isolates, and 1 vancomycin intermediate resistance isolate); 210 E. faecium (185 vancomycin resistant and 25 vancomycin susceptible isolates); 15 E. gallinarum, and 6 E. casseliflavus isolates. RESULTS: Among the VRE isolates, the resistance rates of fosfomycin according to enterococcal species were 6.3% in E. faecalis, 4.9% in E. faecium, 0% in E. casseliflavus, and 16.7% in E. gallinarum. CONCLUSION: Fosfomycin could be a potentially useful drug for the treatment of infections caused by VRE.

Keyword

Fosfomycin; Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE); Enterococcus faecalis; Enterococcus faecium; Enterococcus casseliflavus; Enterococcus gallinarum

MeSH Terms

Anti-Infective Agents
Diffusion
Enterococcus faecalis
Enterococcus faecium
Fosfomycin*
Gangwon-do
Incidence
Korea
Vancomycin*
Anti-Infective Agents
Fosfomycin
Vancomycin