Bacteremia in a small non-urban community hospital

Forty-six episodes of bacteremia were observed during a three-year period at a small, non-urban community hospital. The incidence of bacteremia was 4.3 episodes per 1,000 admissions; this rate is similar to the incidence of bacteremia in large, urban community hospitals but lower than the incidence of bacteremia in municipal or academic hospitals. Eleven percent of bacteremias were hospital acquired, an incidence of 0.5 hospital acquired bacteremias per 1,000 admissions. The low incidence of hospital acquired bacteremia was a reflection of the low incidence of nosocomial, aerobic, gram-negative bacteremia (0.1 per 1,000 admissions). Thirteen percent of bacteremic patients died. The mortality in patients with community acquired bacteremia (10%) was lower than that reported from larger, urban hospitals; the mortality in patients with hospital acquired bacteremia (40%) was similar to that reported from larger, urban hospitals. The lower rates of bacteremia and associated mortality that were observed appear to be due to the lesser severity of underlying diseases in these patients.