Antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence factors of enterococci colonizing intestinal tract of Jordanian infants

Aim: This study investigated distribution of enterococci colonizing intestinal tract of infants and  has determined their putative virulence factors and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Methods:  A total of 82/186 (44.1%) fecal enterococcal isolates were recovered from infants. All enterococci isolates were identified either E. faecalis or E. faecium  using culture and PCR. Results: A significant higher intestinal colonization of  enterococci was detected among non-hospitalized compared to hospitalized patients with a percentage of  (72 % vs. 28%), respectively . E.faecalis was the predominant species in both groups (75.6%). It had also significantly higher virulence factors genes than E. faecium ,while  E. faecium had higher rates of antimicrobial resistance than E.faecalis. Conclusion: This study shows significantly higher rate of intestinal colonization of  E.faecalis than E. faecium  of hospitalized and non-hospitalized infants, and  E.faecalis carried significantly higher potential virulence genes than E. faecium. Key word: Fecal enterococci, Infants, Antimicrobial resistance, Virulence factorsShort title: Fecal ente