The incidence and characteristics of bacteremia in cardiac arrest

In-hospital cardiac arrest due to sepsis – Aetiologies and outcomes in a Swedish cohort study

“…Half of the patients in the present study had positive blood culture results, which is higher than in the total sepsis cohort, 8 but our finding that the three most common pathogens isolated from blood cultures were Escherichia coli, streptococcus pneumoniae and staphylococcus aureus is similar to findings in the sepsis cohort in our hospital 8 and other previous studies. 19 In this context it is important to note that staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen and asymptomatic colonizer of human anterior nares and approximately 30% of individuals are permanently colonized, 20 but it is an opportunistic pathogen 21 and one of the leading pathogens causing bloodstream infection and sepsis. Patients at particular risk for Staphylococcus aureus sepsis are older and more comorbid, 21 which could explain the common finding in our cohort.…”