Abstract
We report an outbreak of linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus haemolyticus strains (MIC 32 mg/L) in patients admitted to the Verona University Hospital Intensive Care Unit. The strains proved to be clonally related at pulsed field gel electrophoresis. All the strains showed the G2576T mutation responsible for linezolid-resistance and retained their resistance even after several passages on antibiotic-free medium. After a decade of linezolid use, multifocal emergence of linezolid resistance in coagulase-negative staphylococci has become an important matter of concern and mandates stricter control over the use of this antibiotic in order to preserve its clinical utility.
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Mazzariol, A., Lo Cascio, G., Kocsis, E. et al. Outbreak of linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus haemolyticus in an Italian intensive care unit. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 31, 523–527 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-011-1343-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-011-1343-6