🦠 Organism of the Week: Enterococcus faecalis

This week we’re focusing on Enterococcus faecalis, a high-yield organism you’ll see in both lab settings and ASCP-style questions 👀

🔬 Gram Stain & Morphology

• Gram-positive cocci

• Arranged in pairs and short chains

• Non-spore forming

🧪 Key Laboratory Characteristics

• Catalase: Negative

• Hemolysis: Usually gamma (non-hemolytic)

• Bile esculin: Positive (black agar)

• 6.5% NaCl: Growth

• PYR: Positive

🔎 Key Identification Clues

If you see:

• Gram-positive cocci

• Catalase negative

• Grows in salt (6.5% NaCl)

• Bile esculin positive

👉 Think Enterococcus

🩺 Common Clinical Infections

• UTIs

• Endocarditis

• Intra-abdominal infections

• Wound infections

⚠️ Important: Can be vancomycin resistant (VRE)

💡 High-Yield Memory Tip

“Entero can ENTER salt”

• Grows in NaCl

• Bile esculin positive

• PYR positive

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