[Screening for Staphylococcus aureus with a reduced susceptibility to vancomycin in: a Belgian hospital].

The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of vancomycin resistance in clinical methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates in our hospital by screening on Mueller-Hinton agar with 5 mg/l teicoplanin (MH-Teico), as recommended by the Comite de l'Antibiogramme of the Societe Francaise de Microbiologie (CA-SFM). Seventeen of 1002 clinical MRSA isolated from 404 patients showed in 2003 growth of at least four colonies on this medium, but only one was confirmed as homogeneous vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VISA) and five as heterogeneous VISA (hVISA) by population analysis. None of the patients presented with severe infection but awareness is needed and screening on MH-Teico as recommended by CA-SFM is a convenient method. Surveillance should be focused on patients with risk factors for selection of such strains: patients with a prolonged course of glycopeptide therapy and persistence of MRSA infection or colonization.