Shahroud University of Medical siences Shahroud Journal of Medical Sciences 2423-6594 12 4 2026 08 10 Epidemiological Study of Vancomycin Resistance Genes in Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci Isolated From Clinical Samples of Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahroud 25 30 10.22100/ijhs.v12i4.1297 eng Ehsan Nezakati Alizadeh Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Hossain Center for Education, Research and Treatment, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.. dr.enezakati@shmu.ac.ir Mohammad Ali Rezaei Department of Gastroenterology, Imam Hossain Center for Education, Research and Treatment, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.. dr.ma_rezaey@yahoo.com Moghgan Sabzevari Department of Emergency Medicine, Imam Hossain Center for Education, Research and Treatment, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.. dr.sabzavari7@gmail.com Niloufar Nouri Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.. nilofar.noory99@gmail.com Pouneh Zolfaghari Vice-chancellor of Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.. mps_1379@yahoo.com Mohammad Bagher Sohrabi General Practitioner, School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.. mb.sohrabi@yahoo.com Marjan Rashidan School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.. marjan.rashidan@yahoo.com 2025 07 07 2025 11 02 Background: Enterococcus spp. are one of the important causes of hospital-acquired and community-acquired infections, and their treatment is associated with serious challenges due to their increasing resistance to antibiotics. The aim of the present study was to investigate antibiotic resistance and identify vancomycin-resistant genes in vancomycin-resistant enterococci collected from patients of Imam Hossein Hospital in Shahroud. Methods: In a descriptive-cross-sectional study, 94 clinical isolates of Enterococcus were collected from different samples. Phenotypic and molecular identification of the species was performed, and susceptibility to vancomycin was investigated using agar disk diffusion and MIC-MBC methods. Also, PCR was used to identify vanA, vanB, vanD, vanC, and vanC2/C3 genes. Results: In the disk diffusion method, 89.7% Enterococcus faecium isolates and 83.3% Enterococcus faecalis isolates were resistant to vancomycin. In the MIC-MBC method, 78.4% E. faecium isolates and 66.6% E. faecalis isolates were resistant to vancomycin. PCR results showed that the vanA gene was detected in 66.6% of the vancomycin-resistant isolates. The vanC1 and vanD genes were not detected in any of the strains. The vanB and vanC2/C3 genes were each detected in 1.4% of the isolates. Conclusion: The results indicate a high prevalence of vancomycin resistance among E. faecium isolates, especially the vanA gene. The findings emphasize the need for rational use of antibiotics and continuous monitoring of resistance patterns.