Etiology of bloodstream infections at a population level during 2013-2017 in the Autonomous Community of Valencia, Spain

INTRODUCTION: Bloodstream Infections has become in one of the priorities for the antimicrobial stewardship teams due to their high mortality and morbidity rates. Usually, the first antibiotic treatment for this pathology must be empirical, without microbiology data about the microorganism involved. For this reason, the population studies about the etiology of bacteremia are a key factor to improve the selection of the empirical treatment, because they describe the main microorganisms associated to this pathology in each area, and this data could facilitate the selection of correct antibiotic therapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study describes the etiology of bloodstream infections in the Southeast of Spain. The etiology of bacteremia was analysed by a retrospective review of all age-ranged patients from every public hospital in the Autonomous Community of Valencia (approximately 5,000,000 inhabitants) for five years. RESULTS: A total of 92,097 isolates were obtained, 44.5% of them were coagulase-negative staphylococci. Enterobacteriales was the most prevalent group and an increase in frequency was observed along the time. Streptococcus spp. were the second microorganisms more frequently isolated. Next, the most prevalent were Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus spp., both with a stable incidence along the study. Finally, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the fifth microorganism more frequently isolated. CONCLUSIONS: These data constitute a useful tool that can help in the choice of empirical treatment for bloodstream infections, since the knowledge of local epidemiology is key to prescribe a fast and appropriate antibiotic therapy, aspect capital to improve survival.