Surveillance of vancomycin-resistant enterococci reveals shift in dominating clones and national spread of a vancomycin-variable vanA Enterococcus faecium ST1421-CT1134 clone, Denmark, 2015 to March 2019

Euro Surveill. 2019 Aug;24(34):1900503. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.34.1900503.

Abstract

We describe clonal shifts in vanA Enterococcus faecium isolates from clinical samples obtained from patients in Denmark from 2015 to the first quarter (Q1) of 2019. During Q1 2019, the vancomycin-variable enterococci (VVE) ST1421-CT1134 vanA E. faecium became the most dominant vanA E. faecium clone and has spread to all five regions in Denmark. Among 174 E. faecium isolates with vanA, vanB or vanA/vanB genes in Q1 2019, 44% belonged to this type.

Keywords: Enterococci; MLST; VRE; VVE; vanA; vanB.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Carbon-Oxygen Ligases
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Denmark / epidemiology
  • Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
  • Enterococcus faecium / drug effects
  • Enterococcus faecium / genetics*
  • Enterococcus faecium / isolation & purification*
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / epidemiology
  • Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / microbiology*
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Multilocus Sequence Typing
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Prevalence
  • Sentinel Surveillance
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Vancomycin / pharmacology*
  • Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci / drug effects
  • Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci / genetics*
  • Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci / isolation & purification*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • VanA ligase, Bacteria
  • Vancomycin
  • Carbon-Oxygen Ligases