Clinical Impact and Risk Factors of Nonsusceptibility to Third-Generation Cephalosporins Among Hospitalized Adults with Monomicrobial Enterobacteriaceae Bacteremia in Southern Taiwan: A Multicenter Study.

Background: Reducing the effectiveness of broad-spectrum cephalosporins against Enterobacteriaceae infections has been recognized. This study aimed to investigate risk factors and clinical significance of third-generation cephalosporin nonsusceptibility (3GC-NS) among the cases of monomicrobial Enterobacteriaceae bacteremia (mEB) at regional or district hospitals.
Methods: The study was conducted at three hospitals in southern Taiwan between Jan. 2017 and Oct. 2019. Only the first episode of mEB from each adult (aged ≥20 years) was included. The primary outcome was in-hospital crude mortality.
Results: Overall there were 499 episodes of adults with mEB included, and their mean age was 74.5 years. Female predominated, accounting for 53% of all patients. Escherichia coli (62%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (21%) were two major causative species. The overall mortality rate was 15% (73/499), and patients infected by 3GC-NS isolates (34%, 172/499) had a higher mortality rate than those by 3GC-susceptible isolates (66%, 327/499) (21% vs 11%, P =0.005). By the multivariate analysis, 3GC-NS was the only independent prognostic determinant (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.78; P =0.04). Of note, male (AOR 2.02, P =0.001), nosocomial-acquired bacteremia (AOR 2.77, P <0.001), and usage of nasogastric tube (AOR 2.01, P =0.002) were positively associated with 3GC-NS, but P. mirabilis bacteremia (AOR 0.28, P =0.01) and age (AOR 0.98, P =0.04) negatively with 3GC-NS.
Conclusion: For adults with Enterobacteriaceae bacteremia, 3GC-NS signifies a significant prognostic impact. Efforts to rapid identification of such antimicrobial resistance profiles should be incorporated into antimicrobial stewardship programs to achieve favorable outcomes.
Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.
(© 2021 Lin et al.)