Prevalence of Vancomycin and Gentamycin Resistance among Enterococci spp in Iran during 2007-2019: A Systematic Review

Enterococci are Gram-positive bacteria that colonize the intestine of warm-blooded animals and humans as normal flora. Enterococci cause a variety of community-acquired and nosocomial infections. The emergence of vancomycin and gentamicin resistant enterococci has made a major challenge in the treatment of enterococcal infections worldwide. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of vancomycin and gentamycin resistance among Enterococcus spp in Iran during 2007-2019.

In this study, 26 studies were reviewed to collect data on the frequency of vancomycin and gentamicin resistant enterococci in Iran. To find studies published during January 2007 to January 2019, a search strategy was performed by searching different Iranian and international databases, including SID, Google Scholar, Scopus, Medline, Pub Med, and Web of Science.

The prevalence of vancomycin- and gentamicin-resistant enterococci was very high in Iran (41 and 44%, respectively). Accordingly, Enterococcus faecalis was more prevalent in clinical samples compared to E. faecium (75.49% vs. 24.05%). However, resistance to vancomycin was higher in E. faecium strains compared to E. faecalis.

Due to the increasing vancomycin and gentamicin resistance among Enterococcus species in Iran, it is necessary to design strategies that lead to the rational prescription of antibiotics and limit the spread of resistant enterococci.