A citywide survey of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus--New York City, 1993

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) has become an increasingly important nosocomial pathogen. Questionnaires were sent to all New York City (NYC)-licensed laboratories to ask about testing procedures used, number of isolates identified, species identified, and vancomycin susceptibility for enterococcal isolates in 1993. Of 127 laboratories, 118 (93%) responded. Fifty-three (45%) of the 118 laboratories reported both the number of enterococcal isolates tested and the number of VRE isolates identified during 1993; 15 (28%) of the 53 laboratories did not isolate VRE, and the remaining 38 laboratories identified 3,822 (8.1%) VRE isolates. VRE was first identified by a NYC-licensed (commercial) laboratory in 1988. Among NYC hospital laboratories, 65 (97%) of 67 identified at least one VRE isolate during 1989-1993. This survey demonstrates that there has been a marked increase in the number of VRE isolates identified in NYC laboratories.