Blood Infections in Patients Treated at Transplantation Wards of a Clinical Hospital in Warsaw

Establishment of the etiology in blood infection is always advisable. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the proportion of different bacterial species, including aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in blood cultures of patients hospitalized in transplantation wards of a large clinical hospital between 2010 and 2012. A total of 1994 blood samples from patients who were treated at one of two transplantation wards of a large hospital in Warsaw were analyzed using an automated blood culture system, BacT/ALERT (bioMerieux, France). The 306 bacterial strains were obtained from the examined samples. The highest proportion were bacteria from the family Enterobacteriaceae (112 strains; 36.6%) with Escherichia coli (61 strains), Klebsiella pneumoniae (30 strains), and Enterobacter cloacae (10 strains) most commonly isolated. The non-fermenting bacilli constituted 21.6% (66 strains), with most common Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (31 strains), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14 strains), Achromobacter spp. (12 strains), and Acinetobacter baumannii (3 strains). Most frequent Gram-positive bacteria were staphylococci (25.2%). Of 77 staphylococcal strains, 56 were coagulase-negative staphylococci and 21 Staphylococcus aureus. Other Gram-positive bacteria included enterococci (14 strains) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (1 strain). Obligatory anaerobic bacteria were represented by 19 strains (6.2% of total isolates). Among all Enterobacteriaceae, 49 isolates (43.7%) produced extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs). Resistance to methicillin was detected in 62% of S aureus isolates and in 46% of coagulasenegative staphylococci. Of 14 enterococci cultured from blood samples, 2 strains (14.3%) were resistant to vancomycin. Both were Enterococcus faecium. Resistant strains of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria are significant problems for patients in the transplantation ward.