Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 10 1995, 585-615, Vol 8, No. 4
N Woodford, AP Johnson, D Morrison and DC Speller
In the last 5 years, clinical isolates of gram-positive bacteria with
intrinsic or acquired resistance to glycopeptide antibiotics have been
encountered increasingly. In many of these isolates, resistance arises from
an alteration of the antibiotic target site, with the terminal D-
alanyl-D-alanine moiety of peptidoglycan precursors being replaced by
groups that do not bind glycopeptides. Although the criteria for defining
resistance have been revised frequently, the reliable detection of
low-level glycopeptide resistance remains problematic and is influenced by
the method chosen. Glycopeptide-resistant enterococci have emerged as a
particular problem in hospitals, where in addition to sporadic cases,
clusters of infections with evidence of interpatient spread have occurred.
Studies using molecular typing methods have implicated colonization of
patients, staff carriage, and environmental contamination in the
dissemination of these bacteria. Choice of antimicrobial therapy for
infections caused by glycopeptide-resistant bacteria may be complicated by
resistance to other antibiotics. Severe therapeutic difficulties are being
encountered among patients infected with enterococci, with some infections
being untreatable with currently available antibiotics.
Copyright © 1995 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Current perspectives on glycopeptide resistance
Antibiotic Reference Unit, Central Public Health Laboratory, London, England.
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