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Prevalence of Enterococci and Vancomycin Resistance in the Throat of Non-Hospitalized Individuals Randomly Selected in Central Italy

Enterococci are commonly found in the environment and humans as a part of the normal microbiota. Among these, Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium can convert into opportunistic pathogens, making them a major cause of nosocomial infections. The rapid diffusion of vancomycin-resistant strai...

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Autores principales: Palmieri, Annalisa, Martinelli, Marcella, Pellati, Agnese, Carinci, Francesco, Lauritano, Dorina, Arcuri, Claudio, Baggi, Luigi, Gatto, Roberto, Scapoli, Luca
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10376521/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37508257
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12071161
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author Palmieri, Annalisa
Martinelli, Marcella
Pellati, Agnese
Carinci, Francesco
Lauritano, Dorina
Arcuri, Claudio
Baggi, Luigi
Gatto, Roberto
Scapoli, Luca
author_facet Palmieri, Annalisa
Martinelli, Marcella
Pellati, Agnese
Carinci, Francesco
Lauritano, Dorina
Arcuri, Claudio
Baggi, Luigi
Gatto, Roberto
Scapoli, Luca
author_sort Palmieri, Annalisa
collection PubMed
description Enterococci are commonly found in the environment and humans as a part of the normal microbiota. Among these, Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium can convert into opportunistic pathogens, making them a major cause of nosocomial infections. The rapid diffusion of vancomycin-resistant strains and their impact on nosocomial settings is of considerable concern. Approximately one-third of the E. faecium infections in Italy are caused by vancomycin-resistant strains. This study explored the hypothesis that the oral cavity could represent a silent reservoir of virulent enterococci. A sample of 862 oral flora specimens collected from healthy human volunteers in Central Italy was investigated by real-time PCR to detect E. faecalis and E. faecium, as well as the genetic elements that most frequently determine vancomycin resistance. The prevalence of E. faecalis was 19%, a value that was not associated with alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, or age of the subjects. Less frequently detected, with an overall prevalence of 0.7%, E. faecium was more common among people older than 49 years of age. The genes conferring vancomycin resistance were detected in only one sample. The results indicate that the oral cavity can be considered a reservoir of clinically relevant enterococci; however, our data suggest that healthy individuals rarely carry vancomycin-resistant strains.
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spelling pubmed-103765212023-07-29 Prevalence of Enterococci and Vancomycin Resistance in the Throat of Non-Hospitalized Individuals Randomly Selected in Central Italy Palmieri, Annalisa Martinelli, Marcella Pellati, Agnese Carinci, Francesco Lauritano, Dorina Arcuri, Claudio Baggi, Luigi Gatto, Roberto Scapoli, Luca Antibiotics (Basel) Communication Enterococci are commonly found in the environment and humans as a part of the normal microbiota. Among these, Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium can convert into opportunistic pathogens, making them a major cause of nosocomial infections. The rapid diffusion of vancomycin-resistant strains and their impact on nosocomial settings is of considerable concern. Approximately one-third of the E. faecium infections in Italy are caused by vancomycin-resistant strains. This study explored the hypothesis that the oral cavity could represent a silent reservoir of virulent enterococci. A sample of 862 oral flora specimens collected from healthy human volunteers in Central Italy was investigated by real-time PCR to detect E. faecalis and E. faecium, as well as the genetic elements that most frequently determine vancomycin resistance. The prevalence of E. faecalis was 19%, a value that was not associated with alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, or age of the subjects. Less frequently detected, with an overall prevalence of 0.7%, E. faecium was more common among people older than 49 years of age. The genes conferring vancomycin resistance were detected in only one sample. The results indicate that the oral cavity can be considered a reservoir of clinically relevant enterococci; however, our data suggest that healthy individuals rarely carry vancomycin-resistant strains. MDPI 2023-07-07 /pmc/articles/PMC10376521/ /pubmed/37508257 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12071161 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Communication
Palmieri, Annalisa
Martinelli, Marcella
Pellati, Agnese
Carinci, Francesco
Lauritano, Dorina
Arcuri, Claudio
Baggi, Luigi
Gatto, Roberto
Scapoli, Luca
Prevalence of Enterococci and Vancomycin Resistance in the Throat of Non-Hospitalized Individuals Randomly Selected in Central Italy
title Prevalence of Enterococci and Vancomycin Resistance in the Throat of Non-Hospitalized Individuals Randomly Selected in Central Italy
title_full Prevalence of Enterococci and Vancomycin Resistance in the Throat of Non-Hospitalized Individuals Randomly Selected in Central Italy
title_fullStr Prevalence of Enterococci and Vancomycin Resistance in the Throat of Non-Hospitalized Individuals Randomly Selected in Central Italy
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence of Enterococci and Vancomycin Resistance in the Throat of Non-Hospitalized Individuals Randomly Selected in Central Italy
title_short Prevalence of Enterococci and Vancomycin Resistance in the Throat of Non-Hospitalized Individuals Randomly Selected in Central Italy
title_sort prevalence of enterococci and vancomycin resistance in the throat of non-hospitalized individuals randomly selected in central italy
topic Communication
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10376521/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37508257
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12071161
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