Gary, thanks for a great post. I was unaware of this phenomenon.
Do you know if anything similar occurs with other antimicrobials?
I certainly can envision an organism utilizing an antimicrobial as a
carbon source, and perhaps even as a "vitamin," but I don't know of
other examples.
This is most interesting and important stuff.
Again, thanks for a great post.
In article <39169D6A.88EFF9B8 at ozemail.com.au>, glum at ozemail.com.au says...
>>Dilworth wrote:
>>> What kind of bacteria? VRE, or vancomycin resistant enterococci are
>> isolated in many laboratories nowadays, unfortunately. Don't know about
>> the "eating" comment; sounds rather unmicrobiological to me. What do
>> others in the NG say? I am also cross-posting to sci.med.laboratory, as
>> these folks work in hospital labs routinely.
>>>> Judy Dilworth, M.T.(ASCP)
>> Microbiology again!
>>>> Frank wrote:
>>>> > I know someone who works at a hospital in Brownsville, Texas who says
>> > they have bacteria that are not only resistant to vancomycin, but
>> > actually eat and grow off the stuff. Is this common?
>>The term you're looking for is vancomycin dependent. They're well
>described. Find following one reference from ProMED from a while ago. More
>recent reports can be found in medline.
>>>Subject:
> PRO> Vancomycin dependent enterococcus - UK (02)
> Date:
> Saturday, 7 December 1996
> From:
> "M. Wilks" <m.wilks at mds.qmw.ac.uk>
> Reply-To:
>promed at usa.healthnet.org> To:
>ProMED-mail at usa.healthnet.org>>>>>VANCOMYCIN DEPENDENT ENTEROCOCCUS - UK (02)
>===========================================
>>Date: Saturday, December 7, 1996 3:14:23 MST
>From: M. Wilks <m.wilks at mds.qmw.ac.uk>
>>[see 961206194240]
>>The full reference to the letter in the Lancet is
>>www.thelancet.com/lancet/User/vol348no9041/letters/
>index.html#vancomycindependent.
>>It may be necessary to access it through www.thelancet.com/
>and then register on-line.
>>The letter reports an unusual, though not rare, laboratory phenomenon which,
>>as the authors themselves note, has been reported before for enterococci
>(Rosato et al., 1995). It is illustrated with a nice photograph, which is
>the opposite of the usual kind of sensitivity test, so that as the
>concentration of antibiotic increases, the bacteria grows more strongly.
>>The authors note that dependence upon the antibiotic renders the mutant not
>only resistant to treatment but also undetectable unless it is specifically
>looked for, necessitating a review of current practices. However they do
>not
>suggest what they might be.
>>It is particularly unfortunate that the authors chose to finish their paper
>with the rhetorical flourish -"Have we at last witnessed the emergence of a
>true superbug?"; thus elevating an interesting laboratory phenomenon to the
>status of yet another health panic. This report has now attracted world
>wide
>coverage with reports of antibiotic-munching bugs.
>>Rosato A, Pierre J, Billot-Klein D, Buu-Hoi, Gutmann L. Inducible and
>constitutive expression of resistance to glycopeptides and vancomycin
>dependence in-resistant _Enterococcus avium_. Antimicrob Agents Chemother
>1995; 4: 830-33.
>>--
>Mark Wilks
>Department of Medical Microbiology
>St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College,
>West Smithfield, London, EC1A 7BE, UK
>TEL: day ++ 44(0)171 601 8419 (office) or 8410 (lab)
>FAX: ++ 44(0)171 601 8409
>eve's ++ 44(0)181 802 5081 [Presumably, this is Dr. Wilks' night number, not
>>the telephone number of a lady named "eve". I have some problems with
>English.]
>email: <m.wilks at qmw.ac.uk>
>>[Dr. Wilks is correct regarding the unfortunate nature of the hyperbolic
>text. ProMED has received reports and queries from some frightened people.
>Mod CHC]
>..............................................................................
>>...
>--
>Send mail for any `ProMED-mail' conference to `promed at usa.healthnet.org'.
>Mail administrative requests to `majordomo at usa.healthnet.org'.
>For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-promed at usa.healthnet.org'.
>>>>Regards
>>Gary
>>--
>*************************************************************
>Dr Gary Lum, Director of Pathology, Territory Health Services
>Rocklands Drive, Tiwi NT 0810, Australia
>Tel. 61889228034, Mob. 61419814490, Fac. 61889228843
>http://www.ozemail.com.au/~glum/>mailto:glum at ozemail.com.au>*************************************************************
>Helping requesting practitioners to answer their diagnostic
>questions, not just doing pathology tests.
>>
