Researchers from the Netherlands have dveloped a fast and simple test to distinguish between epidemic and non-epidemic types of Enterococcus faecium, a rapidly spreading bacterium that has become resistant to all commercially available antibiotics. The test could reveal whether a hospital patient is carrying a highly virulent, antibiotic-resistant bug or a near identical relation which is much less harmful. Doctors worry most about so-called vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) since the antibiotic vancomycin is the last line of defence. Outbreaks of illness are common in hospitals in the USA, and although carriage of the organism is common in Europe, hospital outbreaks are rare. Reporting via The Lancet's fast-track system of publication (see News item below), the researchers say they have identified a subpopulation of epidemic VREF that is genetically distinct from types of VREF not associated with outbreaks of disease. The identification of a virulence gene means that doctors could rapidly spot the spread of VREF and help control infection, which would prevent the spread of VREF in Europe.

Reported by Emma Young for New Scientist.
13 March 2001