Concomitant Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium and Clostridium difficile Colitis

Colitis is a chronic gastrointestinal system disease characterized by inflammation of the inner lining of the colon. Infectious colitis is one of the most common causes of colitis and is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. One of the rare causes of colitis includes vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE). Lately, the prevalence of VRE has significantly increased in hospitals. We present a case of a 32-year-old American man who was initially admitted because of bilateral lower extremity weakness. The hospital course was complicated, with acute hypoxic respiratory failure secondary to pneumonia. The patient was intubated and was started on broad-spectrum antibiotics. Later on, the patient had severe diarrhea and was found to have clostridium difficile infection. Patient symptoms persisted despite completing the course of antibiotics. Colonoscopy was performed, and the patient was found to have a diffuse area of severely altered vascular, congested, erythematous, friable with contact bleeding, hemorrhagic, inflamed, nodular, and ulcerated mucosa in the sigmoid colon, in the descending colon, and the transverse colon. A biopsy was sent, and the patient was found to be growing VRE. Currently, there is no effective treatment available for VRE. Hospitals need to have an active surveillance program to identify these patients so that the infection does not spread to other patients.