[Bacteremia caused by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis. Report of 2 cases].

The rising concern about nosocomial bacteremia due to vancomycin-resistant E. faecalis in Spanish hospitals. Retrospective review of the medical records of two patients with nosocomial bacteremia due to E. faecalis resistant to vancomycin. Both patients (a 78 years-old male and a 65 years-old female) were admitted in two separate hospital units. None of them had been previously treated with vancomycin, and both patients had severe underlying diseases. The two strains isolated showed high-level vancomycin and teicoplanin resistance, although they were sensitive to daptomycin. No other strain with high level glycopeptide antibiotic resistance was isolated in the hospital during the following 23 months. This occasional resistance to glycopeptides among enterococci has been shown also in other Spanish hospitals. The increasing incidence of penicillin and aminoglycoside resistance among enterococci in our environment could have a practical impact, either for the clinical laboratory and/or for therapeutic decisions in patients with infections due to this microorganism.