Persistence and multi-ward dissemination of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium ST17 clone in hospital settings in Slovakia 2017-2020.

Objectives: Hospital vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) were evaluated in term of resistance and phylogenetic relatedness to estimate the location and possible route of transmission of resistance determinants.

Methods: Hospital VREfm (n = 49) were collected in the northern part of Slovakia during 2017-2020. The collection was analysed for the presence of the van operon and 10 representatives were subjected to whole-genome sequencing using Illumina MiSeq platform.