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Published on: July 9, 2012
Emergence of a teicoplanin-resistant small colony variant of Staphylococcus epidermidis during vancomycin therapy
1Bacteriology Laboratory, University of Basel Hospitals and Clinics, Petersgraben 4, 4031 Basel, Switzerland. hadler@uhbs.ch
Abstract:
Small colony variants of Staphylococcus aureus can cause persistent and recurrent infections. There are only a few reports of small colony variants of coagulase-negative staphylococci. Herein a case of infection with a teicoplanin-resistant small colony variant of Staphylococcus epidermidis is presented. The small colony variant was isolated from blood cultures of a patient with acute leukaemia and therapy-induced neutropenia who was treated with vancomycin for catheter-associated bloodstream infection. Despite removal of the catheter and adequate antibiotic therapy, the infection did not clear and the patient died 20 days after continuous antibiotic therapy.
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