Expression of VanA-type vancomycin resistance in a clinical isolate of Enterococcus faecium showing insertion of IS19 in the vanS gene.

The characteristics of an unusual clinical isolate of Enterococcus faecium (CL-6729) showing insertion of IS19 (also known as ISEfm1) in the vanS gene while maintaining a constitutive VanA phenotype are described. This isolate was obtained from a hospital-acquired urinary tract infection, showed multidrug resistance by antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and belongs to ST78 based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Except for the vanS gene, all the other genes of the vanA gene cluster were intact according to conventional PCR, overlapping PCR and genome sequencing.

MLVA Typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates with Emphasis on Serotypes 14, 9N and 9V: Comparison of Previously Described Panels and Proposal of a Novel 7 VNTR Loci-Based Simplified Scheme.

Streptococcus pneumoniae remains as an important cause of community-acquired bacterial infections, and the nasopharynx of asymptomatic carriers is the major reservoir of this microorganism. Pneumococcal strains of serotype 14 and serogroup 9 are among the most frequently isolated from both asymptomatic carriers and patients with invasive disease living in Brazil. Internationally disseminated clones belonging to such serotypes have been associated with the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance in our setting, highlighting the need for epidemiological tracking of these isolates.