Treatment options and clinical outcomes for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae bloodstream infection in a Chinese university hospital.

BACKGROUND

Carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) has become a serious public health problem. Limited information is available about the treatment options that physicians used to fight CRE infections and related clinical outcomes in China. The aim of the present study was to explore the treatment options and clinical outcomes of patients with CRE bloodstream infection (BSI) in a Chinese teaching hospital.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted during 2011 to 2015 in one Chinese teaching hospital. Demographic, microbiological and clinical characteristics of enrolled subjects were collected from medical records. Data were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier graphs, log-rank test, and Cox regression.

RESULTS

A total of 98 inpatients with CRE BSI were enrolled in this study. For empirical therapy, 26 patients (26.5%) received at least one active drug within 48h after the onset of bacteremia. For definitive treatment, 59.2% (49/82) patients received at least one active drug and 40.2% (33/82) patients received therapy with no active drug. The overall 30-day mortality was 53.1% (52/98). Adverse outcome appeared to be more likely among patients with previous carbapenem exposure, neutropenia, severity of septic and time to initiation of BSIs. There was no significant difference in the mortality between the two groups of patients with combination therapy versus monotherapy (p=0.105). Severity of sepsis and neutropenia were identified as independent predictors of mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated a high mortality associated with CRE BSI and a high percentage of inappropriate empirical treatment for CRE BSI patients in a Chinese teaching hospital. Particular attention should be given to the patients with CRE BSI.