Epidemiology of Klebsiella bacteraemia: a case control study using Escherichia coli bacteraemia as control.

Epidemiological data from 117 episodes of Klebsiella bacteraemia were compared with those from matched controls with Escherichia coli bacteraemia. Cases and controls were obtained from 20,631 blood cultures taken from patients in Hvidovre Hospital between 1990 and 1992. The data studied included: sex and age, risk factors, portal of entry, outcome, nosocomial acquisition and distribution within the hospital. The incidence of Klebsiella bacteraemia was 9.3/10,000 admissions (76% Klebsiella pneumoniae; 24% Klebsiella oxytoca). Patients with Klebsiella and E. coli bacteraemia had many common features, including a high incidence of neoplastic disease, biliary tract disease, and renal failure. Many had undergone surgery or received therapy with steroids, antacids or antibiotics. Klebsiella bacteraemia was more often found in males, in patients with hospital contact within the previous month, and polymicrobial infection. Logistic regression analysis showed that use of invasive plastic devices and diabetes were significantly associated with Klebsiella bacteraemia. The urinary tract was the commonest source, followed by the biliary tract; 27% of patients had no obvious focus of infection, and in many of these an invasive device may have been involved. Forty-five K-serotypes were found--the largest number being nine strains of type K3; only a few strains had acquired resistance characters to antimicrobial agents. There were no differences between community- and hospital-acquired strains; indicating that our hospital does not have a resident strain of Klebsiella.