Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium on a pediatric oncology ward: duration of stool shedding and incidence of clinical infection

Persistent gastrointestinal colonization with VRE is common among pediatric oncology patients. Carriage of the same VRE clone for up to 1 year was demonstrated. In the majority of cases invasive and colonizing isolates were identical by DNA fingerprinting techniques, suggesting that the colonizing VRE was the source of infection. Intermittent excretion of organisms in stool makes vigilant tracking and immediate isolation of such patients crucial to control efforts. Prolonged neutropenia may increase the risk of developing clinical infection among VRE-colonized patients.