Paganini H R, González F, Casimir L, Rosanova M T
Servicio de Control Epidemiológico e Infectología, Hospital de Pediatria, Buenos Aires.
Medicina (B Aires). 1997;57(3):281-6.
Sixty episodes of community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SaCB) were prospectively analyzed between January 1990 and December 1994. The mean age of the patients was 78 (1-180) months. Thirteen (55%) of the children had underlying disease, the most frequent one being acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In 83% of the episodes a primary site of infection was observed. Skin and osteoarticular foci were the most frequently encountered. Only two patients had endocarditis. Arterial hypotension was detected in 17% of the patients. Ninety two percent of S. aureus isolated were penicillin-resistant. Only two strains were methicillin-resistant. In 24 (40%) episodes where metastatic foci were detected, osteoarticular infections were predominant. Mortality due to SaCB was 20%. Multivariate analysis by logistic regression revealed that arterial hypotension (RR = 24.8; 4.77-128.9), leucopenia (RR = 10.3; 1.25-86.2) and non hemato-oncologic diseases (RR = 10.0; 1.09-92.2) correlated with high mortality rate (p = < 0.001).
