Survey of Antibiotic Resistance among Enterococci in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

A surveillance study on antibiotic resistance of enterococcal isolates (n = 730) was carried out in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in 1997. Resistance rates to ampicillin (7.4%), high-level gentamicin (15.0%), high-level streptomycin (27.9%), ciprofloxacin (37.9%), vancomycin (1.5%), and teicoplanin (1.5%) were determined. All vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) carried the vanA gene. SmaI and ApaI macrorestriction patterns indicated an intra- and interhospital spread of VRE.