Fecal Carriage of Vancomycin- and Ampicillin-resistant Enterococci Observed in Swedish Adult Patients with Diarrhea But Not Among Healthy Subjects

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Abstract
During a 1-y prospective study between 1 October 1996 and 30 September 1997, fecal samples from 786 adult patients with diarrhea and 203 healthy control subjects were screened for vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) and ampicillin-resistant Enterococci (ARE). The carriage rates of VRE and ARE were 0.4% and 6%, respectively among patients and 0% among controls. The 3 VRE isolates were all VanA and were obtained from patients who had been abroad (Thailand, Spain, France) within the previous 3 months. Thirteen of the 45 patients with ARE (29%) had been abroad within 2 weeks of the onset of diarrhea. These findings suggest a potential risk of introduction of antibiotic-resistant Enterococci in Swedish hospitals by patients receiving treatment for diarrhea after traveling abroad.

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