23- Enterococcus Flashcards
What are the most common diseases of enterococcus sp?
Important pathogen particularly in hospitalized patient. One of the most common causes of infection acquired in the hospital. Urinary tract infection, peritoneum, wound infections (intraabdominal), bacteremia, heart tissues are the sites involved most often. Enterococcal infections are particularly common in patients with urinary or intravascular catheters and in patients who have been hospitalized for prolonged periods and have received broad-spectrum antibiotics.
What are the most common diseases of abiotrophia sp?
bacteremia, endocarditis (native or prosthetic valves), nosocomial brain abscesses and meningitis, eye infections
Why is VRE clinically significant?
Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) are species of enterococci that have developed a resistant to vancomycin. Majority of isolates of E. faecium are now resistant to vancomycin. It is clinically significant due to the fact that the resistance is mediated by plasmids that can be transferred to other organisms. New antibiotics have been developed to specifically treated VREs and these include linezolid(resistant is slowly increasing), quinupristin/dalfopristin (no activity against E. faecalis), and fluoroquinolones (poor activity against vancomycin-resistant enterococci)
What type of media does abiotrophia grow on?
Formerly called nutrionally deficient streptococci are problematic because they will initially grow in blood culture broths or in mixed cultures but do not grow when sub-cultured onto sheep blood agar media unless the media is supplemented with pyridoxal (vitamin B6).
