| vancomycin | <drug> Complex glycopeptide antibiotic produced by actinomycetes. Inhibits peptidoglycan synthesis. Active against many gram-positive bacteria. (18 Nov 1997) |
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| vancomycin resistant enterococcus | A form of intestinal bacteria (formerly classed under streptococcus faecalis) which is not sensitive to the big gun antibiotic, vancomycin. This organism is usually only fatal in those who are, for reasons of age or infirmity, immunosuppressed. The pathology of the illness is exacerbated when haemosepsis (blood-stream infection) develops. (09 Oct 1997) |