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Enterococcus faecium (Efm) has become a globally disseminated nosocomial pathogen of particular concern because of the development of vancomycin resistance. Efm may persist in the environment and the gut, making eradication in healthcare settings difficult. Past investigations combined epidemiological data with bacterial typing, but these methods lacked sufficient discrimination to ascertain the source and spread of Efm. Recently, whole-genome sequencing has become available, allowing for greater resolution of the details of nosocomial transmission.
Researchers have now performed a retrospective study in which whole-genome sequencing was used to analyze 293 Efm bloodstream isolates from a total of 342 patients at a single hospital in the UK …