CITYWIDE SURVEY OF VANCOMYCIN-RESISTANT ENTEROCOCCUS - NEW-YORK-CITY,1993

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) has become an increasingly imp ortant nosocomial pathogen. Questionnaires were sent to all New York C ity (NYC)-licensed laboratories to ask about testing procedures used, number of isolates identified, species identified, and vancomycin susc eptibility for enterococcal isolates in 1993. Of 127 laboratories, 118 (93%) responded, Fifty-three (45%) of the 118 laboratories reported b oth the number of enterococcal isolates tested and the number of VRE i solates identified during 1993; 15 (28%) of the 53 laboratories did no t isolate VRE, and the remaining 38 laboratories identified 3,822 (8.1 %) VRE isolates. VRE was first identified by a NYC-licensed (commercia l) laboratory in 1988. Among NYC hospital laboratories, 65 (97%) of 67 identified at least one VRE isolate during 1989-1993. This survey dem onstrates that there has been a marked increase in the number of VRE i solates identified in NYC laboratories.