Enterobacter bacteremia: clinical features and emergence of antibiotic resistance during therapy
Article Abstract:
Bacteria of the species Enterobacter have become a source of severe, nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infection. These bacteria have a great capacity for developing resistance to the antibiotics used to treat them, making them even more dangerous. A study was conducted to examine the incidence of antibiotic resistance in Enterobacter infections. A group of 129 patients who developed severe infections with Enterobacter were studied; this bacteria was cultured in blood specimens (bacteremia). Many of these patients were found to have received antibiotics for unrelated infections in the two weeks prior to their developing Enterobacter infection. Those patients who had received antibiotics in the category of third-generation cephalosporins, which are synthetic penicillin derivatives, were particularly prone to developing resistant Enterobacter infections. Once patients with Enterobacter infections were begun on antibiotics, they were at risk of developing second or recurrent Enterobacter infections. In seven of these cases, the second Enterobacter infection was proven to be the same species as the original infecting organism, but with greater antibiotic resistance than originally documented. Mortality for patients with Enterobacter infection was 24 percent at 28 days. Death was more likely in those patients in the intensive care unit, those with large intravenous catheters, those who had surgery, and those who had pre-existing liver or kidney disease. Nearly 40 percent of the patients studied had an abdominal source (such as surgery) for their Enterobacter infection. The increased risk for the development of nosocomial infection and multiple antibiotic resistances in Enterobacter was the use of third-generation cephalosporins, suggesting that these drugs be used cautiously, in general, and avoided when a person develops Enterobacter bacteremia. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for the prevention of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhosis: a randomized trial
Article Abstract:
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) may be a safe and effective drug for preventing bacterial peritonitis in patients with liver cirrhosis. Peritonitis is an inflammation of the membrane lining of the abdomen. Of 60 patients with cirrhosis and accumulated fluid in the abdominal cavity, 30 received preventive therapy with TMP-SMX and 30 received no preventive treatment. Among the patients treated with TMP-SMX, only one showed evidence of peritoneal infection, although bacterial culture was negative. Eight patients among those receiving no treatment developed bacterial peritonitis and one developed bacterial pneumonia. TMP-SMX was well-tolerated, and it costs far less than norfloxacin, another drug used for prevention of bacterial peritonitis.
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1995
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Nasal Carriage of and Infection with Staphylococcus aureus in HIV-Infected Patients
Article Abstract:
The presence of Staphylococcus (S.) aureus bacteria in the nose of HIV patients may substantially increase their risk of infectious disease and death. Researchers tested 231 HIV-infected patients for the bacteria, and found that 34% carried the organism. S. aureus caused 10 cases of blood-borne infection, one case of pneumonia, and 10 skin or subcutaneous infection. Patients with low CD4 white blood cell levels had 85% of the infectious complications. HIV patients with S. aureus in their nasal passages were more likely to die. Elimination of the bacterium from the nose may prevent invasive infections in HIV patients.
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1999
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Diversion colitis: histological features in the colon and rectum after defunctioning colostomy. Upper gastrointestinal pathology in familial adenomatous polyposis: results from a prospective study of 102 patients
- Abstracts: Helicobacter pylori infection and the risk of gastric carcinoma. Serum cholesterol and mortality among Japanese-American men: the Honolulu (Hawaii) Heart Program
- Abstracts: Making sense of probiotics. Increasing fibre: why and who. New trial demonstrates the valuable role of probiotics in reducing the risk of diarrhoea
- Abstracts: Changes in vertebral bone density in black girls and white girls during childhood and puberty. Brief report: treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel disease in glycogen storage disease type Ib with colony-stimulating factors