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Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 18e
| Part 8. Infectious Diseases > Section 5. Diseases Caused by Gram-Positive Bacteria > |
Chapter 137. Enterococcal Infections
Sections: Enterococcal Infections: Introduction, Etiology, Pathogenesis, Epidemiology, Clinical Syndromes, Further Readings.
Topics Discussed: enterococcal infection.
Excerpt:"Enterococci have been recognized as potential human pathogens for more than a century, but only in recent years have these organisms acquired prominence as causes of nosocomial infections. The ability of enterococci to survive and/or disseminate in the hospital environment and to acquire antibiotic resistance determinants makes the treatment of some enterococcal infections in critically ill patients a difficult challenge. Enterococci were first mentioned in the French literature in 1899; the "entérocoque" was found in the human gastrointestinal tract and was noted to have the potential to produce significant disease. Indeed, the first pathologic description of an enterococcal infection dates to the same year. A clinical isolate recovered from a patient who died as a consequence of endocarditis was initially designated Micrococcus zymogenes, was later named Streptococcusfaecalis subspecies zymogenes, and would now be classified as Enterococcus faecalis. The ability of this isolate to cause severe disease in both rabbits and mice illustrated its potential lethality in the appropriate settings...."
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