Bacteraemia and antibiotic-resistant pathogens in community acquired pneumonia: risk and prognosis

The sensitivity of blood cultures in the diagnosis of bacteraemia for community-acquired pneumonia is low. Recommendations, by guidelines, to perform blood cultures are discordant. We aimed to determine the incidence, microbial aetiology, risk factors and outcomes of bacteraemic patients with community-acquired pneumonia, including cases with antibiotic-resistant pathogens (ARP). A prospective, observational study was undertaken on consecutive adult patients admitted to the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) with community-acquired pneumonia and blood cultures were obtained. Of the 2892 patients included, bacteraemia was present in 297 (10%) patients; 30 (10%) of whom had ARP (multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and an extended spectrum of beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae). In multivariate analyses, pleuritic pain, C-reactive protein ≥21.6 mg·dL–1 and intensive care unit admissions were independently associated with bacteraemia, while prior antibiotic treatment and pneumococcal vaccine were protective factors. The risk factors for ARP bacteraemia were previous antibiotics and C-reactive protein <22.2 mg·dL–1, while pleuritic pain was the only protective factor in the multivariate analysis. Bacteraemia (excluding ARP), appropriate empiric treatment, neurological disease, arterial oxygen tension/inspiratory oxygen fraction <250, pne...
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Respiratory infections and tuberculosis Original Articles: Respiratory infections Source Type: research