You are currently viewing a revision titled "Hello fellow bacterial friends my name is Enterococcus Facecium", saved on May 20, 2013 at 10:54 am by Jose Caraballo | |
---|---|
Title | Hello fellow bacterial friends my name is Enterococcus Facecium |
Content | Hello fellow bacterial friends my name is Enterococcus Facecium, but you all can call me E. Facecium or Vancomycin- Resistant Enterococci (VRE). Before genomic DNA analysis showed a distinct genus classification would be applicable, I was affiliated with Group D Streptococcus until 1984 when I became part of the Enterococcus genus. My biggest attribute is that I’m a human pathogen that causes nosocomial bacteria, surgical wound infection, and urinary tract infection. The first time I made my rounds in clinical isolates was in Europe in the late 1980’s. Ever since then, I have been connected to various outbreaks of hospital- acquired or nosocomial contagions around the world. According to the CDC, the United States was linked to about 4% of healthcare- associated infections, from January 2006 to October 2007. When I’m not at hospitals causing hysteria, you can find me at gastrointestinal tract of a multitude of animals, sometimes you can even find me in oral cavities and vaginal tracts. My main home would probably be in soil, sewage and hospitals on various surfaces. I love the cold which propels me to operate in temperatures ranging from 10-45 degrees Celsius, in basic or acidic environments, and in environments which are isotonic and hypertonic. Although I’m known to cause harm in humans I also possess the ability to produce antibacterial peptides bacteriocins, which can be used in fermenting foods such as cheese and vegetables. I can also be used as a probiotic to out-compete deleterious bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. |
Excerpt | |
Footnotes |