Frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility of clinical isolates of enterococci

A study was performed to determine the frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility of Enterococcus species in clinical specimens. Of 943 aesculin-positive isolates, 873 (92%) were identified as enterococci (737 Enterococcus faecalis, 129 Enterococcus faecium and 7 other Enterococcus species). High-level resistance to gentamicin was found in 15.2% of Enterococcus faecalis, but not in Enterococcus faecium; 58% of Enterococcus faecium were resistant to gentamicin at a concentration of 64 mg/l. None of the isolates were shown to possess vancomycin resistance.