Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium sensitivity to isopropyl alcohol before and after implementing alcohol hand rubbing in a hospital.
A recent study reported enterococci that developed alcohol tolerance. We measured minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of isopropyl alcohol against 55 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium. We did not find an increase in MICs when comparing the periods before and after the use of alcohol for hand hygiene in a hospital, and we did not find a single isolate with a MIC higher than 11.5%. We consider alcohol to still be an effective measure for hand antisepsis.