This necessary premise is useful for framing Enterococcus faecalis within a specific group of bacteria, all gram positive and commensal. However, under particular conditions l "Enterococcus faecalis it undergoes a transformation from a symbiotic microorganism to an opportunistic pathogen: in similar circumstances, the bacterium, which has become a pathogen, can constitute a serious problem for man and therefore trigger potentially fatal infections.
Belonging to the genus of enterococci, also E. faecalis it is very resistant to the environment: in fact, it resists pH ranging from 4.5 to 10, replicates at temperatures ranging from 10 ° to 45 ° C, grows in blood agar soils up to a sodium chloride concentration equal to 6, 5% and survives for 30 minutes at temperatures of 60 ° C.
Although they are less virulent than straphylococci and streptococci, the Enterococcus faecalis they are particularly resistant to antibiotics, which weighs heavily on treatment and prognosis. sub-acute, meningitis, sepsis, bacteremia and urinary tract infections. It is observed - and now proved - that major infections from Enterococcus faecalis they are transmitted in hospitals and in health facilities in general: for this reason we speak of infections nocosomal. Infections sustained by this enterococcus seem to come from intensive care units, especially in patients admitted to oncology and urology. Probably, the presence of the intravascular catheter is the major risk factor, occasionally responsible for bacterial outbreaks. Other invasive maneuvers involving the urinary system also appear to predispose the patient to enterococcal infections.
L"Enterococcus faecalis it can also infect humans through contaminated food such as infected meat or water.
Unproven hypotheses
The researchers speculate the involvement of Enterococcus faecalis in the development of colon cancer. However, this correlation has NOT yet been ascertained.
The data comes to us from The Journal of Medical Microbiology: in a US study, it was observed that Enterococcus faecalis it could damage DNA, setting the stage for the formation of cancer cells.
Another element not to be underestimated is that the "Enterococcusfaecalis it can also acquire resistance to antibiotics to which it was previously sensitive. Another factor, equally important, is the tolerance that the "Enterococcus faecalis presents during treatment: in other words, during the course of therapy, the antibiotic dose must gradually increase to achieve the same therapeutic effect.
, the therapy to eradicate Enterococcus faecalis it is rather difficult due to the resistance to antibiotics developed by the bacteria. In this sense, pharmacological treatment with ampicillin, penicillin, cephalosporins, clindamycin and vancomycin seems not to be adequate. The association of various drugs, such as aminoglycosides, is more useful Associates to glycopeptides or to beta-lactams. The combination of the drugs quinupristin (or quinupristin) and dalfopristin seems to constitute the elective therapy for eradicating infections caused by Enterococcus faecalis.
