Bacteremia and postmortem microbiology in burned children.

During a three-year period, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the organisms most commonly isolated from blood cultures of burned children. Microorganisms were considered to contribute to the cause of death in 17 of 20 patients who died from various complications of thermal injuries. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was involved in eight deaths, whereas other Gram-negative bacilli or fungi, or both, were involved in the deaths of the remaining nine patients. The microbiologic examination of cardiac blood and pulmonary tissue correlated reasonably well with clinical and anatomic judgments of cause of death, as well as with the defining of some cases of "terminal sepsis".