Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium sepsis following persistent colonization

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci have emerged as important nosocomial pathogens and represent a serious threat to patients with impaired host defenses. We describe a patient with leukemia who developed prolonged colonization with vancomycin-resistantEnterococcus faeciumand ultimately died of sepsis due to this multidrug-resistant organism. This case report confirms that colonization with vancomycin-resistant enterococci may last indefinitely and that asymptomatic carriage can lead to invasive infection. (Arch Intern Med. 1995;155:1445-1447)