Resistant enterococci: A prospective study of prevalence, incidence and factors associated with colonisation in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal tract colonization with antibiotic resistant enterococci at ward entry and to study the incidence and risk factors for nosocomial acquisition of colonization with resistant enterococci. A prospective cohort study conducted between 1st of July 2001 and 31st of August 2001. A 559 bed 3 orthopaedic units and a 57 bed plastic surgery/ burns unit in a 2926 bed tertiary care teaching hospital in Colombo. Rectal swabs were obtained within 24 hrs of admission to the study ward and repeated at weekly intervals for two weeks. Patients harbouring antibiotic resistant enterococci at the time of admission or after admission were compared with patients who were not colonized. Clinical and epidemiological risk factors for colonization were obtained by an interview on admission and abstracted prospectively by daily chart review