[Bacteremia at a medium-sized Norwegian hospital]

This report, which is based on laboratory reports and patient records, covers the epidemiology, etiology and antibiotic susceptibility of all bacteremic episodes at a community hospital during 1988-90. The overall incidence was eight episodes per 1000 patient admissions, though this figure varied considerably between departments and between age groups. Most organisms were community acquired, and we had few Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas spp., anaerobic bacteria, fungi and polymicrobial episodes. There were fewer antibiotic resistant strains than reported from outside Scandinavia. The combination of benzylpenicillin and aminoglycoside (plus metronidazole in surgical wards) has a broad enough spectrum of activity for 95% of our patients with sepsis of unknown origin. Thus, our rather "old-fashioned" prescribing policy, with the new and broadspectrum cephalosporins and betalactam drugs constituting only a minor part, is still good practice. The study also shows that cumulative reports issued by the local microbiological laboratory bring awareness to these issues and affect the prescribing pattern in a positive way.