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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 1998, p. 520-525, Vol. 36, No. 2
Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas,
Received 23 June 1997/Returned for modification 26 September
1997/Accepted 3 November 1997
A prospective, multicenter study was carried out over a period of
10 months. All patients with clinically significant bacteremia caused
by Enterococcus spp. were included. The epidemiological, microbiological, clinical, and prognostic features and the relationship of these features to the presence of high-level resistance to gentamicin (HLRG) were studied. Ninety-three patients with enterococcal bacteremia were included, and 31 of these cases were caused by HLRG
(33%). The multivariate analysis selected chronic renal failure, intensive care unit stay, previous use of antimicrobial agents, and
Enterococcus faecalis species as the independent risk
factors that influenced the development of HLRG. The strains with HLRG showed lower levels of susceptibility to penicillin and ciprofloxacin. Clinical features (except for chronic renal failure) were similar in
both groups of patients. HLRG did not influence the prognosis for
patients with enterococcal bacteremia in terms of either the crude
mortality rate (29% for patients with bacteremia caused by enterococci
with HLRG and 28% for patients not infected with strains with HLRG) or
the hospital stay after the acquisition of enterococcal bacteremia.
Hemodynamic compromise, inappropriate antimicrobial therapy, and
mechanical ventilation were revealed in the multivariate analysis to be
the independent risk factors for mortality. Prolonged hospitalization
was associated with the nosocomial acquisition of bacteremia and
polymicrobial infections.
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Comparative Study of Bacteremias Caused by
Enterococcus spp. with and without High-Level Resistance
to Gentamicin
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unidad de
Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital Universitario Virgen del
Rocío, Avda. Manuel Siurot s/n. 41013 Seville, Spain. Phone:
34-5-4248029. Fax: 34-5-4248111. E-mail: fjcaba{at}cica.es.
All authors are members of the Grupo Andaluz para el Estudio de las
Enfermedades Infecciosas.
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