Carriage of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in infants following an outbreak in the neonatal intensive care unit: time to clearance of carriage and use of molecular methods to detect colonization.

Among 46 infants colonized with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium during an outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit, the estimated time until half had achieved clearance was 217 days. All 40 infants who completed follow-up cleared carriage by 1 year. No predictors of prolonged carriage (> 6 months) were identified.