Community dissemination of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium

Background and objective: in the United States, vancomycin-resistant entero cocci (VRE) are predominantly acquired in the hospital. The extent of disse mination of VRE into the community in the United States has not been examin ed. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of VRE among nonhospitali zed patients. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional surveillance study in an ambulatory care clinic. One hundred ambulatory patients participated in the study. Me asurements included a written questionnaire on patient demographics, clinic al data, and prior exposure to health care settings and antibiotics; rectal swabs; pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; and polymerase chain reaction gen otyping. Results Three of IM subjects (3%) were colonized with VRE, including one pe rson who did not have any exposure to a health care setting or antibiotics. Conclusions: VRE was recovered from nonhospitalized patients. Physicians sh ould be alert to the potential of VRE transmission in the ambulatory care s etting.