Genetic relatedness and risk factor analysis of ampicillin-resistant and high-level gentamicin-resistant enterococci causing bloodstream infections in Tanzanian children.

Background: While enterococci resistant to multiple antimicrobials are spreading in hospitals worldwide, causing urinary tract, wound and bloodstream infections, there is little published data on these infections from Africa.

Methods: We assessed the prevalence, susceptibility patterns, clinical outcome and genetic relatedness of enterococcal isolates causing bloodstream infections in children in a tertiary hospital in Tanzania, as part of a prospective cohort study of bloodstream infections among 1828 febrile children admitted consecutively from August 2001 to August 2002.

Results: Enterococcal bacteraemia was identified in 2.