Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus

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SEM micrograph of vancomycin-resistant enterococci.

Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) is a group of bacterial species of the genus Enterococcus which are resistant to the antibiotic Vancomycin. Enterococci are enteric, and can be found in the digestive and urinary tracts of some humans. VREs were discovered in 1985 and are particularly dangerous to immunocompromised individuals. VRE have an enhanced ability to pass the resistance genes to other bacteria; while infection of healthy individuals is uncommon, it is possible that they could be colonized with newly-resistant bacteria.

VRE can be carried by healthy people who have come into contact with the bacteria. The most likely place where such contact can occur is in a hospital (nosocomial infections), although it is thought that a significant percentage of intensively farmed chicken also carries VRE.^,

See also

• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

References