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Antibiotic resistance patterns of enterococci isolated from coastal bathing waters

Departments of Hygiene and *Microbiology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece

Corresponding author: Dr A. Tsakris (e-mail: atsakris{at}med.auth.gr).

Received 26 Jan. 2001; revised version accepted 14 May 2001.

Abstract

Recreational water should be considered a risk for enterococcal infections in regions with high utilisation and long exposure periods. A total of 1113 enterococcal isolates was obtained from 1670 bathing water samples from 120 bathing areas of seven prefectures in northern Greece. Enterococcus avium, E. raffinosus and E. faecium were the most prevalent species. Single, double and multiple antibiotic resistance patterns were observed in 33.5% 31.0% and 22.8% of the isolates, respectively. Resistance to erythromycin occurred most frequently, in 57.3% isolates, many of which also exhibited resistance to ciprofloxacin and rifampicin as well as high-level resistance to kanamycin and streptomycin. The results suggest that bathing water may contribute to the dissemination of uncommon enterococcal species that exhibit resistance to several antibiotics which are used to treat community-acquired infections.