Translations:Enterococcus faecium/11/en

Tolerance to alcohol-based disinfectants

A study published in 2018 showed multi drug-resistant E. faecium exhibiting tolerance to alcohol-based solutions. The authors speculated about this being an explanation to an increase of E. faecium infections, indicating that alternate methods are required to slow the spread of E. faecium in a hospital setting. The study found that isolates of the bacterium from after 2010 were 10 times more tolerant of the alcohol-based disinfectants than older isolates. However, the isopropanol solutions tested in this study used isopropanol concentrations lower than those used in most hand disinfectants and the authors also stated that hand disinfectants using 70% isopropanol were effective in full strength even against tolerant strains. However, a mouse gut colonization model of E. faecium transmission showed that alcohol-tolerant E. faecium resisted standard 70% isopropanol surface disinfection, resulting in greater mouse gut colonization compared to alcohol-sensitive E. faecium. This research has led some to question whether it may be possible for microbes to become entirely tolerant of alcohol.