Healthcare-associated risk factors of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci colonization among outpatients undergoing hemodialysis.

Stool specimens and data were obtained from 399 outpatients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) in order to estimate the colonization rate of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and to determine risk factors for VRE acquisition. The prevalence of VRE colonization in outpatients ranged from 0z–22.2z. Risk factors associated with VRE colonization were high hierarchy of hospital, short duration of HD, recent hospitalization, prior use of antimicrobial products, high platelet count, and low hemoglobin/albumin/blood urea nitrogen/creatinine levels, showing that VRE colonization was more common in patients with prior infections and poor nutritional status. Although pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis showed that most VRE isolates had diverse patterns, 2 paired cases from separate hospitals presented identical PFGE types.