STUDY OF 30 PATIENTS WITH CAMPYLOBACTER S PP BACTEREMIA

BACKGROUND: TO get better knowledge about clinical and bacteriological features in Campylobacter spp. bacteremia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Over a period of 8 years (1987-1994) we prospectively analized underlying diseases, predisposing factors, clinical manifestations, complications and outcome of patients with Campylobacter spp. bacteremia. The study took place in an urban third-level teaching hospital. Antibiogram was tested in all the strains isolated. RESULTS: We identified 30 cases o f Campylobacter spp, bacteremia (26 due to C, jejuni and 4 due to C. f etus). Seventy-three percent of the patients were male and the mean ag e +/- SD of all the patients was 52 +/- 19 years, Ninety percent of pa tients had some kind of immunodepression related to immunosupressive t herapy or to underlying diseases, especially liver cirrhosis and HIV i nfection, All patients had fever and 40% complained of intestinal symp toms before bacteremia. Mortality rate in patients with C. jejuni bact eremia was 30.8% (8 patients) during the admission, the death was dire ctly related to bacteremia in 11.5% (3 patients). In all the fatal cas es C. jejuni was resistant to the empirical antibiotherapy instituted, In contrast, none of the patients with C, fetus bacteremia died. We d etected an increasing ciprofloxacin resistance in C. jejuni strains du ring this period which reached to 75% in the last years. Antimicrobial susceptibility to erythromycin and aminoglucosids was kept in all the strains. CONCLUSIONS: Campylobacter spp, bacteremia has a remarkable mortality rate, probably related to immunosupressive underlying diseas es in affected patients. In our institution we detected an increasing fluoroquinolone resistance over the years while susceptibility to eryt hromycin and I aminoglucosids was maintained.