Surgical Infection Society position on vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus
J. M. Davis, M. M. Huycke, C. L. Wells, J. M. Bohnen, D. Gadaleta, R. E. Fichtl and P. S. Barie
Department of Surgery, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
The risk of transfer of vancomycin resistance to staphylococci is a real
possibility and has been achieved in the laboratory. Prolonged colonization
occurs with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), and many more patients
are colonized than infected. The failure to identify, isolate, and adhere
to infection control measures when caring for VRE-colonized patients dooms
to failure any means to control its spread. Control of vancomycin use alone
is unlikely to greatly affect the number of patients at risk for VRE
colonization. The global spread of VRE may be impossible to stop, but
infection control measures are the most important line of defense inside
hospitals.
