First confirmed case of a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium with vanA phenotype from Brazil: Isolation from a meningitis case in Sao Paulo

The importance of enterococci as a nosocomial etiologic agent is well docum ented; however, enterococci are also capable of causing a variety of commun ity-acquired infections. Vancomycin resistance in a clinical Enterococcus i solate was first reported in 1986, and since then vancomycin-resistant ente rococci (VRE) have been reported world-wide, This report describes a ease o f E. faecium with the VanA phenotype, isolated from meningitis in Sao Paulo , Brazil. Two E. faecium strains were isolated. One strain showed VanA phen otype, and the molecular characterization of the VanA gene was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction, The other strain was susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. The authors would like to call the attention of the scient ific community to this first identification of a VRE case in Sao Paulo, Bra zil.