Prevalence and Factors Associated With Rectal Vancomycin-Resistant

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are important pathogens causing nosocomial infections, and there is reason for concern about their resistance and great ability to spread in hospital environments, especially intensive-care units (ICU). To determine the prevalence of rectal colonization by VRE, and the risk factors associated with their presence, rectal surveillance swabs were taken from patients under treatment in two intensive-care units (one medical and another both medical and surgical) at São Paulo Hospital, over a two-year period. Thirty-three percent of the 147 patients evaluated had VRE. The only significant variable in the logistic regression was the length of stay in the ICU. Key Words: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci, rectal colonization, intensive care unit. Recently, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have become important nosocomial pathogens because of their rapid spread [1], significant attributable mortality [2-5], limited options for therapy and risk of transfer of vancomycin resistance to virulent pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus, prompting the Centers fo