Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium colonization in children

Nosocomial vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) infections have been des cribed in only small numbers of pediatric patients. In none of these studie s were multivariate analyses performed to assess which factors were indepen dent risk factors in these patients. In the present cohort study of patient s admitted to our hematology/oncology unit, surveillance cultures revealed a colonization rate of 24% and all isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecium, Risk factors associated with colonization with VRE identified by multiple logistic regression analysis included young age and chemotherapy w ith antineoplastic agents, cefotaxime, vancomycin, and ceftazidime, A molec ular epidemiological teal, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, was used to de termine the relatedness of the VRE isolates detected. DNA analysis by this method identified two major clusters of VRE isolates. Young children with g astrointestinal colonization with VRE, without evidence of clinical infecti on, can serve as a reservoir for the spread of VRE.