title: Magnitude of bacteraemia is a predictor of mortality during 1 year of follow-up.
abstract: We evaluated magnitude of bacteraemia as a predictor of mortality, comprising all adult patients with a first-time mono-microbial bacteraemia. The number of positive bottles [1 (reference), 2, or 3] in the first positive blood culture (BC) was an index of magnitude of bacteraemia. We used Cox's regression analysis to determine age and comorbidity adjusted risk of mortality at days 0-7, 8-30, and 31-365. Of 6406 patients, 31.1% had BC index 1 (BCI 1), 18.3% BCI 2, and 50.6% BCI 3. BCI 3 patients had increased risk of mortality for days 0-7 (1.30, 95% CI 1.10-1.55) and days 8-30 (1.37, 95% CI 1.12-1.68), but not thereafter. However, in surgical patients mortality increased only beyond day 7 (8-30 days: 2.04, 95% CI 1.25-3.33; 31-365 days: 1.27, 95% CI 0.98-1.65). Thus, high magnitude of bacteraemia predicted mortality during the first month with a shift towards long-term mortality in surgical patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark. kog@rn.dk
authors.forename: K O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Gradel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Søgaard
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dethlefsen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Schønheyder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000401:mortality*; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors