An Investigation of the Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in Enterococcus Species Isolated from Delivery Room of University Hospital of Qom City, 2015, Iran

Enterococci are Gram-positive cocci that are found in abundance in the environment. The ability of these bacteria for long-term survival in hospital environment, increases the chance of patients for infections caused by this bacterium. Therefore, identification of possible sources and reservoirs is helpful in identifying the potential sources in sudden outbreaks. The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence rate and antibiotic resistance pattern in environmental Enterococcus isolates collected from delivery room environment of Alzahra and Izadi university hospitals in Qom.
In this descriptive cross-sectional study, over a period of 3 month, sampling was performed using swabbing method from delivery rooms of alzahra and izadi hospitals in Qom, and were examined for the presence of Enterococci. After isolation, Enterococcus species were examined using different biochemical tests, and the antibiotic resistance pattern in the environmental was assessed according to disk-diffusion test according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) standards. The data were described by frequency tables.
In this study, out of 216 obtained isolates, 7(3.2%) belonged to Enterococcus genus. 4(57%) out of 7 Enterococcus strains isolated from surfaces of delivery room, had multiple resistances based on antibiotic sensitivity test using antiobiogram test.
According to increasing growth of nosocomial infection caused by resistant strains of Enterococcus spp. and their spread in hospital environment, use of infection control measures are necessary to eliminate the potential sources and prevent the infection.