Gram-negative bloodstream infections and sepsis: risk factors, screening tools and surveillance.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND: Incidence of gram-negative bloodstream infections (GNBSIs) and sepsis are rising in the UK. Healthcare-associated risk factors have been identified that increase the risk of infection and associated mortality. Current research is focused on identifying high-risk patients and improving the methods used for surveillance. SOURCES OF DATA Comprehensive literature search of the topic area using PubMed (Medline). Government, professional and societal publications were also reviewed. AREAS OF AGREEMENT A range of healthcare-associated risk factors independently associate with the risk of GNBSIs and sepsis. AREAS OF CONTROVERSY There are calls to move away from using simple comorbidity scores to predict the risk of sepsis-associated mortality, instead more advanced multimorbidity models should be considered. GROWING POINTS AND AREAS FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH Advanced risk models should be created and evaluated for their ability to predict sepsis-associated mortality. Investigations into the accuracy of NEWS2 to predict sepsis-associated mortality are required.