Vol.52 No.11 November 2004
Use of vancomycin and the detection of vancomycin- resistant bacteria in our hospital
1)Clinical Laboratory Center and 2)Department of Pharmacy, Gunma University Hospital,
3-39-15 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan
Abstract
Since vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) was first isolated in our hospital, we have studied a total of 459 fecal specimens from 250 inpatients to elucidate the relationship between the detection of vancomycin (VCM)-resistant bacteria and the use of VCM in our hospital. To detect VCM-resistant bacteria, we used 4 μ g/mL VCM supplemented broth and 8 μ g/mL VCM supplemented culture agar. VCM-resistant bacteria was detected in 12 out of 23 patients (52%) who were treated with VCM. On the other hand, VCM-resistant bacteria was detected in 48 out of 182 patients (26%) who were not treated with VCM. The VCM-resistant bacteria positive rate was significantly higher in patients who were treated with VCM (p< 0.05). These results suggest a relationship between the detection of VCM-resistant bacteria and the use of VCM. Therefore, careful use of VCM is recommended.
Key word
vancomycin, van B, drug-resistance, dose-response relationship
Received
June 29, 2004
Accepted
October 20, 2004
Jpn. J. Chemother. 52 (11): 664-666, 2004
