Antimicrobial resistance of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium

Objective To investigate the anti-microbial resistance of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium to determine if the use of antibiotics against these bacteria is rational.Methods A GPI plate was applied for bacterial identification and antibiotics susceptibility testing. Whonet 5 software was used for data analysis. Results Less than 50% of E. faecalis and E. faecium isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol and nitrofurantoin and less than 1% were resistant to vancomycin. The resistance rate of E. faecalis to penicillin G,high concentration gentamicin,ciprofloxacin,rifampicin and erythromycin decreased every year and that of E. faecium to ciprofloxacin,rifampicin and nitrofurantoin increased each year. In addition,the resistance rate of E. faecium to most antibiotics was higher than that E. faecalis.Conclusion E. faecalis and E. faecium are becoming multi-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial therapy should be decided upon according to the results of susceptibility testing.