Vancomycin-resistant enterococci in Spanish hospitals: the experience of official network for the surveillance of resistant microorganisms RedLabRA, 2023–2024

@article{canadagarcia2026vancomycinresistant,
  title = {{Vancomycin-resistant enterococci in Spanish hospitals: the experience of official network for the surveillance of resistant microorganisms RedLabRA, 2023–2024}},
  author = {Javier E. Cañada-García and Sara Pérez de Madrid and Estela Giménez Quiles and María Pilar Ortega-Lafont and María Dolores Tirado-Balaguer and Luis López-Urrutia and Esther Viedma-Moreno and Marta Hernández-García and Nieves Larrosa-Escartín and Julia Serrano-Lobo and Ignasi Roca and Jordi Càmara and Diego García Martínez-de-Artola and Ana Isabel López-Calleja and Paloma Merino Amador and Cristina Seral and Lorena López-Cerero and Fernando Lázaro-Perona and Ferran Navarro and Fernando González-Candelas and María Pérez-Vázquez and Jesús Oteo-Iglesias and the Spanish RedLabRA Network Study Group},
  journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1966902},
  url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1966902/full},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Vancomycin-resistant enterococci in Spanish hospitals: the experience of official network for the surveillance of resistant microorganisms RedLabRA, 2023–2024
AU  - Javier E. Cañada-García
AU  - Sara Pérez de Madrid
AU  - Estela Giménez Quiles
AU  - María Pilar Ortega-Lafont
AU  - María Dolores Tirado-Balaguer
AU  - Luis López-Urrutia
AU  - Esther Viedma-Moreno
AU  - Marta Hernández-García
AU  - Nieves Larrosa-Escartín
AU  - Julia Serrano-Lobo
AU  - Ignasi Roca
AU  - Jordi Càmara
AU  - Diego García Martínez-de-Artola
AU  - Ana Isabel López-Calleja
AU  - Paloma Merino Amador
AU  - Cristina Seral
AU  - Lorena López-Cerero
AU  - Fernando Lázaro-Perona
AU  - Ferran Navarro
AU  - Fernando González-Candelas
AU  - María Pérez-Vázquez
AU  - Jesús Oteo-Iglesias
AU  - the Spanish RedLabRA Network Study Group
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/29
JO  - Frontiers in Public Health
DO  - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1966902
UR  - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1966902/full
AB  - Objectives: RedLabRA is a network of microbiology laboratories for the genomic surveillance of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to describe the actions undertaken by RedLabRA in response to an increase of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in some Spanish regions.  Methods: RedLabRA designed a VRE surveillance organized in two phases: (1) a questionnaire to assess risk perception of VRE among the network’s Level 2 laboratories (LN2), and (2) collection of cases detected between April 2023 and March 2024, followed by WGS of a sample of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) isolates to investigate interregional dissemination. WGS was performed using the Illumina platform; MLST ( PubMLST.org scheme), cgMLST and phylogenetic relationships (Ridom SeqSphere+ v3.5.0), and resistome (Resfinder 4.7.2) were analysed.  Results: Nine of the 17 autonomous communities defined a priority scenario of VRE. 31 LN2 reported 1,958 VRE cases from 86 hospitals across 12 autonomous communities and the autonomous city Ceuta. The predominant species was E. faecium (97.1%). 317 VREfm isolates were included for WGS: 211 (66.6%) carried the van A gene, 90 (28.4%) van B, and 16 (5%) both genes. ST117 (34.7%), ST80 (27.1%), or ST1421 (25.6%) predominated. Using cgMLST (1,423 genes, cutoff of 5 alleles), 45 VREfm clusters were identified, of which eight involved at least three hospitals and were inter-regional. 51 (16.1%) isolates carried linezolid resistance mechanisms, mainly optr A+ cfr D.  Conclusion: VREfm had a highly uneven impact across Spanish regions. The inter-regional presence of VREfm isolates with high genetic similarity belonging to ST1421, ST117, and ST80 clones was detected. The emergence of E. faecium isolates carrying genes conferring resistance to vancomycin and linezolid requires ongoing surveillance.
SN  - 2296-2565
ER  -