[The spectrum of pathogens in positive blood cultures--Tyrol 1991]

In a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) it was noted that there had been a resurgence of Gram-positive bacteremia together with an increase in fungemia. This reported trend is confirmed by data from the Austrian Tirol. In 1991 1,750 out of 13,679 specimens (12.8%) yielded bacterial or fungal growth, accounting for 1,248 cases of "bacteremia"; no decision was made about the clinical significance of the culture isolates. We consider laboratory reports of blood isolates to be fairly well suited to reflect the frequency of the various bacterial and fungal pathogens. The most common organisms were coagulase-negative staphylococci (41%). The proportion of Staphylococcus aureus (17%), E. coli (4%), Klebsiella-Enterobacter (4%), Pseudomonas (5%) and Candida (3%) corresponded well with the situation in the USA and the UK. Remarkably, anaerobes accounted for only 0.3%, possibly due to our use of a "single bottle"--blood-culture system. Various fastidious organisms, including Brucella melitensis and Haemophilus aphrophilus, were detected by this blood-culture system. Also 15 Haemophilus influenzae-strains, nontyphoidal salmonellae (9 strains), and meningococci (7 strains) were isolated. These data show that the microbiologic features of blood-cultured seen in Austrian Tyrol are broadly similar to those in the UK and North America.