Etiology of bacteremia.
Blood-culture results for a 15-year period from a large southern hospital were tabulated and analyzed for alterations in the bacterial species associated with bacteremia. From 15,543 cultures, 2,410 positive cultures (15.6%) were obtained. These results were grouped into 5-year periods, and an alteration in the incidence of the agents was demonstrated. In the past 5 years, gram-negative bacilli have replaced gram-positive cocci as the most common agents of bacteremia, and several species not formerly associated with septicemia were found to be involved in a large number of cases. The importance of the clinical laboratory monitoring blood culture results was demonstrated as was the need for constant collaboration between the clinician and microbiologist.
D001407:Bacillus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003352:Corynebacterium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000209:etiology*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections; D006801:Humans; D009343:Neisseria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections; D011512:Proteus Infections; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections; D012480:Salmonella Infections; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections; D013290:Streptococcal Infections