SUSCEPTIBILITY TO VANCOMYCIN OF ENTEROCOCCI ISOLATED FROM DAIRY-PRODUCTS

The antibiotic vancomycin is often used in clinical therapy against mu ltiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Twenty strains of enterococci, e ither Enterococcus faecium or Ent. faecalis, isolated from different c heeses were tested for resistance to vancomycin in liquid medium. Mini mum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged from less than 1 to 4 mu g ml(-1). A 399 bp intragenic fragment of the vanA gene was not ob served after amplification of total DNA of the strains. It seems, ther efore, that resistance to vancomycin, which is a common trait for ente rococci of nosocomial origin, is not widespread among dairy isolates.