Intestinal microbiota containing Barnesiella species cures vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium colonization.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria causing infections in hospitalized patients are increasingly antibiotic resistant. Classical infection control practices are only partially effective at preventing spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria within hospitals. Because the density of intestinal colonization by the highly antibiotic-resistant bacterium vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) can exceed 10(9) organisms per gram of feces, even optimally implemented hygiene protocols often fail. Decreasing the density of intestinal colonization, therefore, represents an important approach to limit VRE transmission. We demonstrate that reintroduction of a diverse intestinal microbiota to densely VRE-colonized mice eliminates VRE from the intestinal tract. While oxygen-tolerant members of the microbiota are ineffective at eli

SUBMITTER: Ubeda C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3584866 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature