Archives of oral biology
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Archives of oral biology · Apr 2018
Presence of the esp gene in Enterococcus faecium derived from oropharyngeal microbiota of haematology patients.
Antibiotic use and immunocompromised status in haematology patients have been shown to determine the constituents of commensal microbiota with highly increased resistance, including vancomycin resistant enterococci. We compared the carriage of virulence factor genes and the capacity for biofilm formation in vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) originating from the oropharyngeal and stool cultures of haematology patients. ⋯ In the present study, isolation of VRE from the oropharynx in haematology patients was associated with esp gene carriage. Further research is needed to investigate the clinical and long-term effects of this finding.