From 1 April 1983 to 31 October 1985, 114 episodes of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) were identified in 111 patients at the Buffalo Veterans Administration Medical Center. Only 14% of the episodes were community-acquired, and 29% were due to methicillin-resistant strains. The commonest foci of SAB were intravascular catheters (33%), postoperative wounds (11%), skin infections (7%), and pulmonary infections (7%). Complications were infrequent, with endocarditis in two patients and metastatic infection in one. Mortality due to SAB was 32%, with no difference in mortality between community-acquired and hospital-acquired SAB. Although not statistically significant, there was a trend of higher mortality for methicillin-resistant SAB (42%) than for methicillin-sensitive SAB (28%) and for patients with no focus of SAB (43%) than for those with a defined primary focus (28%). A review of studies of SAB published since 1940 revealed several trends. SAB is now predominately a nosocomial infection; intravascular-catheter infection has become the commonest cause of SAB; with several exceptions, the risk of endocarditis in patients with SAB is low (5%-20%); mortality due to SAB has decreased over the past 40 years but not over the past 10 years.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Mylotte et al. (1987) studied this question.