Current status of glycopeptides resistance among MRSA isolates

Vancomycin has been widely used in the treatment of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The emergence of vancomycin-intermediate and vancomycin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA and VRSA, respectively) in various parts of the world has been of great concern in clinical settings. This study was performed to monitor the status of vancomycin susceptibility against MRSA in our set up. All non duplicate MRSA isolates recovered from various wards of Military Hospital Rawalpindi were subjected to the detection of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of vancomycin using E- strips. Isolates having standard vancomycin MICs equal or greater than 1 ug/ mL were subjected to the detection of Glycopeptide Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (GISA) / heterogeneous Glycopeptide Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (h GISA) by using GRD (Glycopeptide Resistance Detection) E- Test. Results were analyzed to evaluate the possible presence of VISA, VRSA, GISA and h GISA.