Increasing vancomycin resistance in Enterococcus spp. in Australia: facing the challenge in the laboratory

High level vancomycin resistance in enterococci (VRE) is increasing in Australia. If the spread of VRE is to be checked, then it is vital for laboratories to be able to detect it promptly and accurately. We have established a rapid and accurate screening method using Enterococcosel agar supplemented with 6 mg/l vancomycin. It can recover VRE from spiked feces, it may be used to screen feces for carriage of VRE and it is not subject to the confounding effects which feces introduce to broth enrichment culture.