| clinical and molecular characterization of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus faecium strains during establishment of endemicity. | to characterize the molecular epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus faecium (vref) in tennessee, vref isolates that were recovered from patients during a 3-year period at a tertiary care center and throughout the state were typed by means of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients colonized or infected with different strain types were also examined. a total of 34 different strain types were identified. a single vref strain (type o) predomin ... | 2001 | 11462188 |