Clinical features of enterococcal bacteremia due to ampicillin-susceptible and ampicillin-resistant enterococci: An eight-year retrospective comparison study

摘要

Enterococcus consists human bowel flora, but sometimes behave as an important nosocomial pathogen. In order to identify clinical characteristics that help discriminate between ampicillin-susceptible and ampicillin-resistant enterococcal bacteremia in advance for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, a retrospective eight-year study was carried out in patients with enterococcal bacteremia experienced in Saga University Hospital, Japan. A total of 143 patients were included in the analysis: 85 (59.4%) with bacteremia caused by ampicillin-susceptible enterococci and 58 (40.6%) by ampicillin-resistant strains. Hospital-acquired bacteremia was present in 79.0% (113/143) of patients. Abdominal infections, urinary tract infections, and unknown source were predominant foci for the two groups. Patients with ampicillin-resistant enterococcal bacteremia was significantly associated with hematological cancer, immunosuppressive therapy, prior use of antibiotics, and mucositis associated with febrile neutropenia. The 28-day mortality was significantly higher in ampicillin-resistant enterococcal bacteremia.