• Masja Leendertse, Rob J Willems, Ida A Giebelen, Sandrine Florquin, Petra S van den Pangaart, Marc J Bonten, and Tom van der Poll.
• Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.leendertse@amc.uva.nl
• Intensive Care Med. 2009 May 1;35(5):924-32.

PurposeMultiresistant and vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) can cause serious infections in hospitalized patients with various co-morbid diseases. We investigated the course of VRE peritonitis after cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis and compared this to sham operated mice.MethodsMice were subjected to CLP or sham surgery. Forty-eight hours thereafter four groups were created by subjecting mice to peritoneal injection of either VRE or saline.ResultsMice infected with VRE after CLP were severely impaired in eliminating VRE from the peritoneal cavity and distant body sites. These mice failed to mount an early inflammatory response at the primary site of VRE infection. VRE superinfection did not influence CLP-induced organ damage or polymicrobial bacterial loads.ConclusionsSublethal polymicrobial sepsis greatly facilitates infection and dissemination of VRE. VRE does not influence the course of CLP-induced sepsis.

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