Prevalence of high level gentamicin and vancomycin resistance among clinical isolates of enterococci from a tertiary care hospital in central Nepal.

High level aminoglycoside resistance is an established phenomenon in enterococci. With the increasing use of broad spectrum cephalosporins and glycopeptides, vancomycin resistant enterococci are being increasingly reported from different parts of the world. The objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of high level gentamicin resistant (HLAR) enterococci among the clinical isolates in our hospital and to find the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of vancomycin against these isolates. The enterococci isolated over a year (n = 41) were subjected to HLAR screening by disc diffusion and MIC of vancomycin by agar dilution method. HLAR prevalence was 63%. MIC of vancomycin showed none in the resistant range. However, 4 (9.7%) isolates were in the intermediate range heralding the eminent emergence of VRE if adequate control measures are not implemented in time.