Enterococci are a type of bacteria (germs) that live in the gastrointestinal tract (bowels/gut) of most people and do not cause illness. This is called colonisation. Sometimes these bacteria can cause infection if they get into an area of the body where they are not normally found such as a wound, urinary tract, heart valves and bloodstream.
Vancomycin is a type of antibiotic used to treat enterococci. When enterococci become resistant to vancomycin, which means this antibiotic will no longer treat these bacteria, we refer to this as resistant. Bacteria are finding new ways to become resistant to antibiotics commonly used to treat infections.
GRE does not mean that your infection cannot be treated with antibiotics. It means there are only a few antibiotics that will work to treat the infection.
