BACKGROUND Prior studies suggested that vancomycin may be inferior to β-lactams for the empiric treatment of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) bacteremia. We assessed whether empiric therapy with β-lactams compared to vancomycin was associated with differences in clinical outcomes in patients with MSSA bacteremia. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult inpatients wi...

OBJECTIVE Infections due to Gram-negative bacteria exhibit seasonal trends, with peak infection rates during warmer months. We hypothesized that the likelihood of a bloodstream infection due to Gram-negative bacteria increases with proximity to the equator. We tested this hypothesis and identified geographical, climatic and social factors associated with this variability. DESIGN We establishe...

INTRODUCTION Guidelines recommend that two blood cultures be performed in patients with febrile urinary tract infection (UTI), to detect bacteremia and help diagnose urosepsis. The usefulness and cost-effectiveness of this practice have been criticized. This study aimed to evaluate clinical characteristics and the biomarker procalcitonin (PCT) as an aid in predicting bacteremia. METHODS A pro...

OBJECTIVE To determine how often neonates with Enterobacteriaceae (ENTB) bacteremia can be treated successfully without removing central venous catheters (CVCs). METHODS A retrospective cohort study was conducted of ENTB bacteremia and CVCs in infants in a neonatal intensive care unit during a 7-year period (1994-2000). Cases of ENTB bacteremia were identified from a microbiology database and...

To assess invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) clinical presentations and relationships with age and serotype in hospitalized children (<15 years) after PCV7 implementation in Madrid, Spain, a prospective 2-year (May 2007 to April 2009) laboratory-confirmed (culture and/or PCR) IPD surveillance study was performed (22 hospitals). All isolates (for serotyping) and culture-negative pleural/cerebro...

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an important nosocomial pathogen with intrinsic multi-drug resistance. This retrospective study reviewed 84 episodes of S. maltophilia bacteremia over a 4-year period from July 1999 to September 2003. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bacteremia was hospital-acquired in 64 patients (76%), and developed after prolonged hospitalization in 48 (57%). Seventy patients (83%...

introduction melioidosis is a rapidly fatal infectious disease caused by burkholderia pseudomallei, an agent of potential biothreat, endemic in several parts of india. most melioidosis-induced infected aneurysms are located in the abdominal or thoracic aorta. case presentation we reported two unusual cases of melioidosis resulting in pseudoaneurysm of the descending thoracic aorta. in both case...