A normal gut resident that has become one of the harder hospital organisms to treat. Explore its illustrative 3D model, human context, and sources.
PHAC describes enterococci as facultatively anaerobic, catalase-negative Gram-positive cocci arranged individually, in pairs or in short chains, and as normal inhabitants of the intestinal tract, the female genital tract and, less commonly, the oral cavity. E. faecium accounts for 5 to 10% of isolates from human intestine samples, with E. faecalis the most frequent at 80 to 90%. The same sheet records enterococci causing urinary tract, wound and soft tissue infections, and bacteremia that can lead to endocarditis in previously damaged cardiac valves, accounting for 10% of hospital-acquired infections in the USA and about 16% of nosocomial urinary tract infections. Strains resistant to β-lactams, aminoglycosides and, increasingly, vancomycin have been described.
PHAC describes enterococci as normal inhabitants of the intestinal tract, so carrying this organism is ordinary. The infections it records — urinary tract, wound and soft tissue infections, and bacteremia that can lead to endocarditis in previously damaged cardiac valves — arise in specific circumstances rather than from carriage alone, and PHAC notes that strains resistant to β-lactams, aminoglycosides and, increasingly, vancomycin have been described. CDC’s VRE figures count vancomycin-resistant enterococci as a group, not E. faecium alone, so they describe a resistance category rather than this species.
Enterococcus faecium · Three ovoid cocci form a representative short chain, distinct from the longer group B streptococcal chain. This is a species-informed teaching diagram; colours, proportions, envelope spacing and internal detail are illustrative. The model uses muted illustrative colours; stains, colony pigments and microscopy colourization are not natural cell colours. Anatomy is enlarged for phone viewing. Morphology reference: Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium · pathogen safety data sheet · morphology, habitat and resistance.
Source check: 2026-09-20. Educational content; independent scientific review remains pending.