Anaerobic Bacteremia: Impact of Inappropriate Therapy on Mortality

Investigation on incidence and mortality of anaerobic bacteremia (AB) is clinically relevant in spite of its infrequent occurrence and not often explored, which report varies according to period and institutions. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the incidence and risk factors related to mortality and assess clinical outcomes of AB in current aspect.

Characteristics of AB patients and anaerobic bacteria from blood culture at a university hospital in 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. The correlation between risk factors and 28-day patient mortality was analyzed.

A total of 70 non-duplicated anaerobic bacteria were isolated from blood of 70 bacteremia patients in 2012. The history of cardiovascular disease as host's risk factor was statistically significant (P = 0.0344) in univariate and multivariate analysis. Although the inappropriate therapy was not statistically significant in univariate and multivariate analysis, the survival rate of bacteremia was significantly worse in patients who had inappropriate therapy compared with those underwent appropriate therapy (hazard ratio, 5.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-6.9; P = 0.004). The most frequently isolated organism was Bacteroides fragilis (32 isolates, 46%), followed by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (10, 14%), and non-perfringens Clostridium (7, 10%).

The incidence of AB in 2012 was 2.3% (number of AB patients per 100 positive blood culture patients) and the mortality rate in patients with clinically significant AB was 21.4%. In addition, AB was frequently noted in patients having malignancy and the survival rate of AB was significantly worse in patients who received inappropriate therapy compared with those underwent appropriate therapy.