154. Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Enterococcus species in a Tertiary Center Children’s Hospital in Korea

BACKGROUND: Increasing prevalence of Enterococcus spp. as a nosocomial pathogen with high-level resistance to multiple antimicrobials has been a challenge throughout the years, and now, even to the pediatric age. This study is a pioneer research which was designed to determine the prevalence of different antibiogram patterns of enterococcal strains in the pediatric age. METHODS: In this retrospective review, we included Enterococcus species isolated from normal body fluid including blood and CSF from March 2014 through September 2020 at Asan Medical Center Children`s Hospital. Electronic Medical Records (EMR) was reviewed for clinical and demographic data. RESULTS: A total of 205 different clinical strains of Enterococcus species were collected. Isolated strains were E. faecalis (47.3%), E. faecium (41.5%), E. avium (4.9%), E. gallinarum (2.9%), E. raffinosus (2.0%) and others (1.5%). No strains were resistant to linezolid. Vancomycin or teicoplanin resistant strains were 26.3% (vancomycin 17.1%, teicoplanin 9.3%), most of which were E. faecium (vancomycin 13.7%, teicoplanin 9.3%). Ampicillin or penicillin resistant strains were 82.9% (ampicillin 39.0%, penicillin 43.9%), most of which were also E. faecium (ampicillin 35.1%, penicillin 36.1%). High-level streptomycin or gentamicin resistant strains were 46.8% (streptomycin 13.2%, gentamicin 33.7%), mostly E. faecalis (streptomycin 7.8%, gentamicin 19.0%). The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance differed significantly between E. faecalis and E. faecium; E. faecalis being nearly all susceptible to ampicillin and penicillin except 6 strains which was an interesting finding because ampicillin-susceptible, penicillin-resistant E. faecalis strains were found. Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Enterococcal Strains [Figure: see text] MIC of ASPR Enterococcus species by Etest [Figure: see text] CONCLUSION: Consistent findings with previous studies based on adults are that E. faecalis and E. faecium were the predominant strains causing infection in children as well. There are reports about currently emerging ampicillin-susceptible but penicillin-resistant(ASPR) E. faecalis strains which were also found in this study and so therefore further molecular studies about this newly emerging ASPR E. faecalis is in progress. DISCLOSURES: All Authors: No reported disclosures.