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The Prevalence of Colonization With Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus at a Veterans' Affairs Institution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Jerome I. Tokars ,
Sachiko Satake ,
David Rimland ,
Loretta Carson ,
Elaine R. Miller ,
Edna Killum ,
Ronda L. Sinkowitz-Cochran ,
Matthew J. Arduino ,
Fred C. Tenover  and
Barbara Marston
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Jerome I. Tokars*
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Sachiko Satake
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
David Rimland
Affiliation:
Medical Service, Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Loretta Carson
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Elaine R. Miller
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Edna Killum
Affiliation:
Medical Service, Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Ronda L. Sinkowitz-Cochran
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Matthew J. Arduino
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Fred C. Tenover
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Barbara Marston
Affiliation:
Medical Service, Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia
William R. Jarvis
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
*
Hospital Infections Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, MS E-69, Atlanta, GA 30333
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Abstract

Objective:

To study vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) prevalence, risk factors, and clustering among hospital inpatients.

Design:

Rectal-swab prevalence culture survey conducted from February 5 to March 22,1996.

Setting:

The Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia.

Patients:

Hospital (medical and surgical) inpatients.

Results:

The overall VRE prevalence was 29% (42/147 patients). The VRE prevalence was 52% (38/73 patients) among patients who had received at least one of six specific antimicrobials during the preceding 120 days, compared with only 5% (4/74) among those who had not received the antimicrobials (relative risk, 9.6; P <.001). The longer the period (up to 120 days) during which antimicrobial use was studied, the more closely VRE status was predicted. Among 67 hospital patients in 28 multibed rooms, clustering of VRE among current roommates was not found.

Conclusions:

At this hospital with relatively high VRE prevalence, VRE colonization was related to antibiotic use but not to roommate VRE status. In hospitals with a similar VRE epidemiology, obtaining cultures from roommates of VRE-positive patients may not be as efficient a strategy for identifying VRE-colonized patients as obtaining screening cultures from patients who have received antimicrobials.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , March 1999 , pp. 171 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1999

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