Predictors for bacteraemia

In a study of 4104 episodes of septicaemia seen at St Thomas's Hospital between 1969 and 1989, predictors for the condition, other than age and hospital service, were difficult to identify, mainly as a result of the limited data available on the denominator groups. The collection of a small number of simple and readily assessed items of information on all patients with septicaemia did, however, allow the identification of some associations between certain groups of patients and particular species of bacteria and foci of infection. Until there is a substantially larger amount of accurate, complete and computerized data on all hospital patients, further recognition of predictors for bacteraemia will prove difficult to develop.