INTRAHOSPITAL SPREAD OF A SINGLE GENTAMICIN-RESISTANT, BETA-LACTAMASE-PRODUCING STRAIN OF ENTEROCOCCUS-FAECALIS IN ARGENTINA

Six beta-lactamase-producing (Bla+) isolates of Enterococcus faecalis recovered over a 17-month period from an Argentinian pediatric hospital were found to have identical or almost identical chromosomal restriction patterns by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, although the plasmid patterns were different. These isolates, like Bla+ enterococci in the United States, hybridized to a staphylococcal Bla gene probe. The presence of a single strain was somewhat surprising, since all isolates transferred Bla by conjugation.