Enterococcus

Bacteria normally found in the feces of people and many animals. Two types of enterococci — Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium —occasionally cause human disease, most commonly urinary tract infections and wound infections. Other infections, including those of the blood stream (bacteraemia), heart valves (endocarditis) and the brain (meningitis) can occur in severely ill patients in hospitals. Enterococci also often colonize open wounds and skin ulcers. Enterococci are among the most common antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The first vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) was found in 1986. Since that time, VRE has become a growing problem. Bacteria resistant to vancomycin are commonly also resistant to a similar antibiotic called teicoplanin, and vice versa.

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Genus of facultatively anaerobic, generally nonmotile, nonsporeforming, Gram-positive bacteria (family Streptococcaceae), formerly classified as part of the genus Streptococcus. Found in the intestinal tract of humans and animals, enterococci cause intraabdominal, wound, and urinary tract infections. Type species is E. faecalis. E. faecium is also clinically significant, because of its propensity to develop antibiotic resistance.

- E. faecalis a bacterial species found in human feces and in the intestines of many warm-blooded animals; occasionally found in urinary infections and in blood and heart lesions in cases of subacute endocarditis; a major cause of nosocomial infection, especially in association with Gram-negative pathogens. SYN: Streptococcus faecalis.

- E. faecium the second most common species of this genus recovered in human infection; this species has low-level resistance to ampicillin, and in the U.S. and other countries where vancomycin is used frequently, resistant strains have been rapidly appearing as causes of nosocomial infections; in cases of septicemia in immunocompromised patients, fatality rates can be over 50%.

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en·tero·coc·cus -'käk-əs n

1) cap a genus of gram-positive bacteria that resemble streptococci and were formerly classified with them

2) pl -coc·ci -'käk-.(s)ī, -'käk-(.)(s)ē any bacterium of the genus Enterococcus esp one (E. faecalis) normally present in the intestine

en·tero·coc·cal -'käk-əl adj

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En·tero·coc·cus (en″tər-o-kokґəs) [entero- + coccus] a large genus of gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic bacteria of the family Enterococcaceae. Organisms are round to ovoid, found in pairs or short chains, catalase-negative, non–spore-forming, and generally nonmotile. Members of this genus are common intestinal flora and sometimes cause opportunistic infections. The type species is Enterococcus faecaґlis.