title: Septicaemia in the elderly.
abstract: A retrospective study was made of 44 elderly patients with bacteraemia treated in the period 1974-1980. Positive blood cultures in 5 cases were considered clinically insignificant. Twenty-six of the remaining 39 patients were found to have a Gram-negative bacteraemia, mainly associated with urinary tract infection. Abnormalities of liver function were common but 5 jaundiced patients with Gram-negative infection were shown to have stones in the common bile duct. The value of blood cultures as a diagnostic aid in the non-specifically ill elderly patient is emphasized.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D042882:Gallstones / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000150:complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000150:complications