Background: Clinical and microbiological description of bacteremias seen in 13 regional hospitals of Barcelona.
Methods: From January to December of 1991 a multicenter prospective study of bacteremia in regional hospitals was performed. The filiation, clinical findings and microbiological results were registered according to a common protocol.
Results: We studied 1674 episodes of bacteremia (13.8 per 1000 admissions). Patients were distributed into 3 groups according to age: under 14: 204 patients, between 14 to 65: 759 and over 65: 711 patients. Men account for 55% and women for 45% of episodes. The bacteremia was hospital-acquired in 24.4% of cases. The most common foci of infection were: urinary tract (32%), respiratory tract (14%), intestinal tract (8%), intravascular catheter (7%), biliary tract (7%) and unknown (10%). The most commonly isolated strains were: Escherichia coli 544 cases, Streptococcus pneumoniae 212, Staphylococcus aureus 139, coagulase negative staphylococi 85, Non-typhoid Salmonella 66, Neisseria meningitidis 63, Pseudomonas sp. 59, Enterococcus sp. 59 and Bacteroides sp. 58. Polimicrobial bacteremia was detected in 83 episodes (5%). Related mortality rate was 9.6% (161 patients).