Clinical and Microbiological Characteristics of Bacteremia: A 20-Year Experience in a Single University Hospital.

BACKGROUND

is ubiquitous in nature and rarely causes infections. However, the clinical impact of has increased in recent years, especially in immunocompromised patients, and has resulted in high mortality rates. We aimed to investigate the clinical and microbiological characteristics of bacteremia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed medical records of a 642-bed university-affiliated hospital in Korea, dating from January 2001 to December 2020, to investigate bacteremia.

RESULTS

A total of 22 isolates were identified from blood culture records. All patients were hospitalized at the time of bacteremia, and the most common manifestation was primary bacteremia. A sizable majority of the patients (83.3%) had underlying diseases, and all patients received intensive care unit care during their admission. The 14-day and 28-day mortality rates were 8.3% and 16.7%, respectively. Importantly, all isolates were 100% susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.

CONCLUSION

In our study, most of the infections were hospital-acquired, and the susceptibility pattern of the isolates showed multidrug resistance. However, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is a potentially useful antibiotic for bacteremia treatment. More attention is required to identify as one of the most important nosocomial bacteria with detrimental effects in immunocompromised patients.