Evaluation of BBL CHROMagar VanRE for Detection of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in Rectal Swab Specimens

A study was performed on 517 surveillance rectal swabs to evaluate a selective and differential chromogenic medium, the BBL CHROMagar VanRE (CVRE), which enables recovery and identification of VanA-and VanB-containing Enterococcus faecium (ENFM) and Enterococcus faecalis (ENFS) isolates. Compared to BBL Enterococcosel agar, a bile-esculin-azide-vancomycin (BEAV) agar, the initial overall sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of CVRE for the detection of vancomycin-resistant ENFM and ENFS were 99.1% and 94.8% and 84.2% and 99.7%, respectively. Among our patient population, more vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) were recovered with CVRE than BEAV.