Enterococcal Infection in Children

From relative obscurity, enterococci have become a leading cause of nosocomial infection. This has been attributed, in part, to the growth in susceptible host populations, increased use of intravascular devices, prolonged hospital stay, and widespread antibiotics use. Furthermore, the facility with which enterococci acquire resistance characteristics coupled with their capacity to survive in the environment renders them uniquely suited as nosocomial opportunists and have resulted in global dissemination of resistant strains. Debate continues as to whether most serious infections arise from a person’s indigenous flora or dissemination of virulent clones. Enterococci are normal inhabitants of the human gastrointestinal tract. Classically associated with endocarditis and wound and urinary tract infections, increasingly they are a cause of nosocomial bacteremia. The rise in incidence of serious enterococcal infection has been particularly evident in neonatal, paediatric intensive care, and haematology/oncology units. Spread of resistant phenotypes has posed a difficult therapeutic challenge. We have been rescued, albeit perhaps only temporarily, by the addition of newer agents, such as linezolid, to the therapeutic armamentarium. However, there is no room for complacency. Linezolid resistance already has been reported. Efforts must continue to focus on prevention of the emergence and dissemination of resistance through policies of rational antibiotic use, infection control and education.