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Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus by the VITEK 2 system, and comparison with
Intetsu Kobayashi1, Hiroe Muraoka1, Takako Iyoda1
1Chemotherapy Division, Mitsubishi Kagaku Bio-Clinical Laboratories Inc., 3-30-1 Shimura, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 174-8555, Japan 2Department of Microbiology, Toho University of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Journal of Medical Microbiology
|December 9, 2004
Summary
The VITEK 2 system accurately detects vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and rapidly determines antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results. This automated method offers a simple approach for clinical laboratories to identify VRE strains and their resistance patterns.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Antimicrobial Resistance
Background:
- Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) poses a significant challenge in healthcare settings.
- Accurate and rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is crucial for effective VRE treatment.
- The VITEK 2 system is an automated platform for bacterial identification and AST.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the performance of the automated VITEK 2 system for AST of VRE.
- To compare VITEK 2 results with established NCCLS reference methods (agar dilution and micro broth dilution).
- To assess the VITEK 2's ability to identify VRE phenotypes and detect vancomycin resistance genes (vanA, vanB).
Main Methods:
- VITEK 2 system was used for AST of 35 VRE isolates.
- Results were compared against NCCLS reference agar-dilution and micro broth-dilution methods.
- Phenotypic identification and PCR genotyping were performed to confirm VRE strains and resistance mechanisms.
Main Results:
- VITEK 2 showed high agreement with reference methods for penicillin G, erythromycin, and vancomycin MICs.
- Minor discrepancies were observed for teicoplanin and erythromycin, with no major errors for any tested antibiotic.
- The system correctly identified Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium, with 54.3% of results available within 7 hours.
Conclusions:
- The VITEK 2 system is a simple and accurate method for detecting vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus.
- It provides rapid determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs), aiding timely clinical decisions.
- The system demonstrates good performance for AST of VRE, supporting its use in clinical laboratories.