Prevalence and susceptibility of highly gentamicin resistant Enterococcus faecalis in a south London teaching hospital.

Combinations of aminoglycosides plus ampicillin usually are necessary for the satisfactory management of serious Enterococcus faecalis sepsis. A study in a South London hospital demonstrated that 7% of all E. faecalis, and 30% of those from blood cultures, were highly gentamicin resistant. Addition of gentamicin confers no benefit to the treatment of these organisms with ampicillin. We looked at the susceptibility pattern of these organisms in vitro and concluded that ampicillin plus ciprofloxacin offered the best available combination.