Reduced Susceptibility to Biocides among Enterococci from Clinical and Non-Clinical Sources.

As expected, reduced susceptibility to CHX, was significantly higher in clinical isolates. However, the presence of a vancomycin-resistant enterococci among fecal isolates of healthy people which showed resistance/tolerance to studied antimicrobial agents, was unexpected and highlights the need to investigate other non-hospital environments to avoid dissemination of antimicrobial resistance. Correlation between reduced susceptibility to CHX and high level resistance to gentamicin, substantiates monitoring of biocide tolerance particularly in the healthcare settings to control the establishment of antimicrobial resistant strains.