Dissemination of clonally unrelated erythromycin- and glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates in a tertiary Greek hospital

Between September 1999 to February 2001, 25 glycopeptide-resistant Enteroco ccus faecium (GRE) isolates were recovered from a Greek hospital. The isola tes exhibited 13 distinct chromosomal macrorestriction types by pulsed-fiel d gel electrophoresis, and all were erythromycin and vancomycin resistant, carrying the genes vanA and ermB. Vancomycin resistance, always linked with erythromycin resistance, was transferable from 17 isolates. The disseminat ion of erythromycin-resistant GRE strains may, at least in part, reflect th e extensive use of macrolides in husbandry in Greece.