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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.

Sec. Pharmacology of Infectious Diseases

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1505674

This article is part of the Research Topic Multidrug Resistant Bacteria: New Therapeutic Approaches for a Challenging Problem View all 3 articles

Global Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance of Enterococcus faecium: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Isolates

Provisionally accepted
Chen Huang Chen Huang 1Samane Moradi Samane Moradi 2Mohammad Sholeh Mohammad Sholeh 3Faezeh Motallebi Tabaei Faezeh Motallebi Tabaei 2Tingting Lai Tingting Lai 1Bo Tan Bo Tan 1*Jingjing Meng Jingjing Meng 4*Khalil Azizian Khalil Azizian 5*
  • 1 Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 2 School of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Golestan, Iran
  • 3 Pasteur Institute of Iran (PII), Tehran, Tehran, Iran
  • 4 Binzhou Polytechnic, Binzhou, Shandong Province, China
  • 5 Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: The multidrug resistant bacteria are associated with a high number of deaths and pose a significant global concern. In recent decades, among these resistant bacteria, Enterococcus faecium as a hospital-acquired pathogen has attracted more attention. Objective: In light of this, the present study aims to document the current state of resistance in E. faecium globally by considering several variables, including geographical locations, temporal trends, and sources of infection. Methods: We searched the studies in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (November 30, 2022). All statistical analyses were carried out using the statistical package R. Results: Our meta-analysis of antibiotic resistance across various clinical isolates revealed substantial heterogeneity and variability. Average resistance proportions ranged from 2% for linezolid to 62.8% for erythromycin, with significant differences observed across different time periods, countries, and World Health Organization regional offices. Conclusion: Our findings confirm the high antibacterial activity of linezolid against E. faecium isolates. Additionally, our investigation reveals a gradual increase and concerning upward trend in resistance rates for nearly all agents in recent years. However, the significant reduction in resistance rates for certain antibiotics suggests that these drugs could potentially regain their effectiveness in the future.

    Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, Enterococcus faecium, systematic review and meta-analysis, Vancocmyin, Clinical isolate bacterial

    Received: 03 Oct 2024; Accepted: 28 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Moradi, Sholeh, Tabaei, Lai, Tan, Meng and Azizian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Bo Tan, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong Province, China
    Jingjing Meng, Binzhou Polytechnic, Binzhou, Shandong Province, China
    Khalil Azizian, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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