Abstract
Background: To investigate patient characteristics and empirical antimicrobial treatment of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) bacteraemia, to determine risk factors, outcome and impact of empirical antimicrobial treatment. Methods: We performed a retrospective case-control study of all patients diagnosed with ESBL-EC from January 2011 to September 2012. The control group consisted of patients with non-ESBL E. coli bacteraemia. The groups were compared with respect to empirical treatment, risk factors and outcome, using univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: The study consisted of 70 consecutive cases of ESBL-producing and 140 controls of non-ESBL-producing E. coli bacteraemia. ESBL-EC prevalence of bloodstream invasive E. coli isolates was 6.1%. The independent risk factor found for ESBL-EC bacteraemia was a prior culture with ESBL production (p < 0.001). A higher frequency of inappropriate empirical antibiotic treatment (p < 0.001) and a trend towards worse outcome was observed in patients infected with ESBL-EC and empirical guidelines were more often not followed (p = 0.013). If the guidelines were followed this was associated with adequate initial antibiotic treatment (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Patients with ESBL-EC frequently received inappropriate empirical treatment and guidelines were more often not followed. A prior culture of ESBL-producing bacteria was an independent predictor and risk factor for ESBL-EC bacteraemia. Since the prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli is increasing the importance of adequate guidelines must be emphasized.
Acknowledgments
Håkan Lövkvist PhD, Competence Centre for Clinical Research, Lund University. Funding was provided by Region Skåne and Lund University, Sweden.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.