We report the isolation of Enterococcus faecalis resistant to vancomycin and linezolid from the tip
of a thoracic drainage catheter in an elderly patient. He was treated with vancomycin for a pleural
empyema due to a meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus but never received linezolid. A
surveillance rectal swab yielded both linezolid-susceptible and -resistant strains, and the two
isolates were not genotypically related. Careful monitoring for linezolid-resistance is critical to
avoid potential therapy failure and transmission of resistant E. faecalis.
