Skip to main content
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1996 Aug;34(8):2042–2044. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.8.2042-2044.1996

Evaluation of commercial vancomycin agar screen plates for detection of vancomycin-resistant enterococci.

K G Van Horn 1, C A Gedris 1, K M Rodney 1, J B Mitchell 1
PMCID: PMC229183  PMID: 8818911

Abstract

Brain heart infusion-6-micrograms/ml vancomycin agar plates obtained from five commercial sources (B-D Microbiology Systems, Carr-Scarborough Microbiologicals, MicroBio Products, PML Microbiologicals, and REMEL) were evaluated with 714 enterococci for detection of vancomycin resistance. All 465 (100%) vancomycin-resistant enterococci (MIC > or = 32 micrograms/ml) were detected by each manufacturer's agar screen plate, and each manufacturer's agar screen plate detected at least 99% of the 177 vancomycin-susceptible enterococci (MIC < or = 4 micrograms/ml). Detection of the 72 vancomycin-intermediate enterococci (MIC = 6 to 16 micrograms/ml) ranged from 94% for B-D Microbiology Systems to 99% for PML Microbiologicals.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (211.5 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Banerjee S. N., Emori T. G., Culver D. H., Gaynes R. P., Jarvis W. R., Horan T., Edwards J. R., Tolson J., Henderson T., Martone W. J. Secular trends in nosocomial primary bloodstream infections in the United States, 1980-1989. National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System. Am J Med. 1991 Sep 16;91(3B):86S–89S. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(91)90349-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Facklam R. R., Collins M. D. Identification of Enterococcus species isolated from human infections by a conventional test scheme. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Apr;27(4):731–734. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.4.731-734.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Free L., Sahm D. F. Investigation of the reformulated Remel Synergy Quad plate for detection of high-level aminoglycoside and vancomycin resistance among enterococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Jun;33(6):1643–1645. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.6.1643-1645.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Frieden T. R., Munsiff S. S., Low D. E., Willey B. M., Williams G., Faur Y., Eisner W., Warren S., Kreiswirth B. Emergence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in New York City. Lancet. 1993 Jul 10;342(8863):76–79. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(93)91285-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gray J. W., Pedler S. J. Antibiotic-resistant enterococci. J Hosp Infect. 1992 May;21(1):1–14. doi: 10.1016/0195-6701(92)90149-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Leclercq R., Dutka-Malen S., Duval J., Courvalin P. Vancomycin resistance gene vanC is specific to Enterococcus gallinarum. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1992 Sep;36(9):2005–2008. doi: 10.1128/aac.36.9.2005. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Montecalvo M. A., de Lencastre H., Carraher M., Gedris C., Chung M., VanHorn K., Wormser G. P. Natural history of colonization with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 1995 Dec;16(12):680–685. doi: 10.1086/647041. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Navarro F., Courvalin P. Analysis of genes encoding D-alanine-D-alanine ligase-related enzymes in Enterococcus casseliflavus and Enterococcus flavescens. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1994 Aug;38(8):1788–1793. doi: 10.1128/aac.38.8.1788. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Ruoff K. L., de la Maza L., Murtagh M. J., Spargo J. D., Ferraro M. J. Species identities of enterococci isolated from clinical specimens. J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Mar;28(3):435–437. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.3.435-437.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Schaberg D. R., Culver D. H., Gaynes R. P. Major trends in the microbial etiology of nosocomial infection. Am J Med. 1991 Sep 16;91(3B):72S–75S. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(91)90346-y. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Schulz J. E., Sahm D. F. Reliability of the E test for detection of ampicillin, vancomycin, and high-level aminoglycoside resistance in Enterococcus spp. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Dec;31(12):3336–3339. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.12.3336-3339.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Shay D. K., Maloney S. A., Montecalvo M., Banerjee S., Wormser G. P., Arduino M. J., Bland L. A., Jarvis W. R. Epidemiology and mortality risk of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal bloodstream infections. J Infect Dis. 1995 Oct;172(4):993–1000. doi: 10.1093/infdis/172.4.993. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Swenson J. M., Clark N. C., Ferraro M. J., Sahm D. F., Doern G., Pfaller M. A., Reller L. B., Weinstein M. P., Zabransky R. J., Tenover F. C. Development of a standardized screening method for detection of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Jul;32(7):1700–1704. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.7.1700-1704.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Swenson J. M., Ferraro M. J., Sahm D. F., Charache P., Tenover F. C. New vancomycin disk diffusion breakpoints for enterococci. The National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards Working Group on Enterococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Oct;30(10):2525–2528. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.10.2525-2528.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Swenson J. M., Hill B. C., Thornsberry C. Problems with the disk diffusion test for detection of vancomycin resistance in enterococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Sep;27(9):2140–2142. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.9.2140-2142.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Tenover F. C., Swenson J. M., O'Hara C. M., Stocker S. A. Ability of commercial and reference antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods to detect vancomycin resistance in enterococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Jun;33(6):1524–1527. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.6.1524-1527.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tenover F. C., Tokars J., Swenson J., Paul S., Spitalny K., Jarvis W. Ability of clinical laboratories to detect antimicrobial agent-resistant enterococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Jul;31(7):1695–1699. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.7.1695-1699.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Willey B. M., Kreiswirth B. N., Simor A. E., Faur Y., Patel M., Williams G., Low D. E. Identification and characterization of multiple species of vancomycin-resistant enterococci, including an evaluation of Vitek software version 7.1. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Oct;31(10):2777–2779. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.10.2777-2779.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Willey B. M., Kreiswirth B. N., Simor A. E., Willaims G., Scriver S. R., Phillips A., Low D. E. Detection of vancomycin resistance in Enterococcus species. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Jul;30(7):1621–1624. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.7.1621-1624.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Zabransky R. J., Di Nuzzo A. R., Huber M. B., Woods G. L. Detection of vancomycin resistance in enterococci by the Vitek AMS system. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1994 Oct;20(2):113–116. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(94)90102-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Zabransky R. J., Dinuzzo A. R., Woods G. L. Detection of vancomycin resistance in enterococci by the Alamar MIC system. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Apr;33(4):791–793. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.4.791-793.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES