Age- and Sex-Associated Trends in Bloodstream Infection

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Mortality from bloodstream infections (BSIs) remains high, with a case-fatality rate as high as 20% to 30%, despite significant advances in antimicrobial therapy and automated blood culture techniques.1-3 Concerns about increasing antimicrobial resistance among blood isolates have been noted, especially due to organisms with limited available treatment options, such as extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing gram-negative bacilli or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.4 Recent data suggest that rates of BSI due to S aureus have been increasing,5,6 with the rate of nosocomial primary S aureus BSI more than doubling.7 Previous European observations of BSIs from the 1980s and 1990s have estimated incidence rates of BSI to be between 76.5 and 153 per 100 000.8,9 There has been speculation that as rates of BSI increase, complications of BSI, such as infective endocarditis (IE)10 and vertebral osteomyelitis,11 also will increase.12 However, there have been minimal recent population-based data evaluating trends in BSI, and it is unclear which populations are at highest risk for BSI due to different organisms. Such data are necessary for targeting treatment and prevention efforts. We, therefore, conducted a retrospective, population-based, cohort study to evaluate age- and sex-associated trends in the incidence of BSI in a geographically defined population.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: