How vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) spread
These bacteria do not spread through the air like a cold or flu. They move from person to person mainly through direct contact, contaminated hands, and shared surfaces or equipment in healthcare settings.
Hands are the main highway
Healthcare workers, visitors, and even patients can carry the bacteria on their hands after touching a contaminated surface or an infected wound. Thorough hand hygiene — with soap and water or alcohol-based rub — is the single most effective way to break the chain.
Surfaces and shared equipment
Resistant enterococci can survive on bed rails, monitors, toilets, and medical devices. Rigorous cleaning and disinfection protocols in hospitals are designed to stop this environmental spread.
From gut to bloodstream
A patient may carry the bacteria in their gut without symptoms. If the gut lining is compromised by illness, surgery, or a catheter, the bacteria can enter the bloodstream or urinary tract and cause infection.
Who is most at risk?
- People in intensive care units or long-term acute care hospitals.
- Patients who have had recent abdominal, cardiac, or transplant surgery.
- Anyone with a weakened immune system, including people receiving chemotherapy.
- Patients with urinary or central-line catheters.
- People who have recently taken broad-spectrum antibiotics, especially carbapenems.
- Anyone who has been colonized or infected with resistant bacteria before.