Environmental survival of vancomycin-sensitive ampicillin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (AREfm)

Ampicillin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (AREfm) has gained increased footholds in many hospital intensive care units (ICUs) and belongs to specific hospital-adapted E. faecium sub-populations. Three AREfm strains survived in an in vitro survival setting for approximately 5.5 years. These findings have important consequences for the epidemiology of AREfm in hospital settings and stress the importance of maintaining a good level of hospital hygiene.