Pseudomonas aeruginosa and risk of death and exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an observational cohort study of 22 053 patients.

OBJECTIVES: The role of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the long-term prognosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether P. aeruginosa is associated with increased risk of exacerbations or death in patients with COPD. METHODS: This is a multiregional epidemiological study based on complete data on COPD outpatients between 1 January 2010 and 31 October 2017 and corresponding microbiology and national register data. Time-dependent Cox proportional hazards models and propensity matching was used to estimate hospitalization-demanding exacerbations and death after 2 years, separately and in combination. RESULTS: A total of 22 053 COPD outpatients were followed for a median of 1082 days (interquartile-range: 427-1862). P. aeruginosa was present in 905 (4.1%) patients. During 730 days of follow-up, P. aeruginosa strongly and independently predicted an increased risk of hospitalization for exacerbation or all-cause death (HR 2.8, 95%CI 2.2-3.6; p <0.0001) and all-cause death (HR 2.7, 95%CI 2.3-3.4; p <0.0001) in analyses adjusted for known and suspected confounders. The signal remained unchanged in unadjusted analyses as well as propensity-matched subgroup analyses. Among patients 'ever colonized' with P. aeruginosa, the incidence of hospital-demanding exacerbations doubled after the time of the first colonization. CONCLUSIONS: COPD patients in whom P. aeruginosa can be cultured from the airways had a markedly increased risk of exacerbations and death. It is still not clear whether this risk can be reduced by offering patients targeted antipseudomonal antibiotics. A randomized trial is currently recruiting patients to clarify this (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03262142).

Detection of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in Danish emergency departments - evaluation of national screening guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Multi-resistant bacteria (MRB) are an emerging problem. Early identification of patients colonized with MRB is mandatory to avoid in-hospital transmission and to target antibiotic treatment. Since most patients pass through specialized emergency departments (EDs), these departments are crucial in early identification. The Danish National Board of Health (DNBH) has developed exposure-based targeted screening tools to identify and isolate carriers of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE). AIM: To assess the national screening tools for detection of MRSA and CPE carriage in a cohort of acute patients. The objectives were to investigate: (i) if the colonized patients were detected; and (ii) if the colonized patients were isolated. METHODS: This was a multi-centre cross-sectional survey of adults visiting EDs. The patients answered the DNBH questions, and swabs were taken from the nose, throat and rectum. The collected samples were examined for MRSA and CPE. Screening performances were calculated. FINDINGS: Of the 5117 included patients, 16 were colonized with MRSA and four were colonized with CPE. The MRSA screening tool had sensitivity of 50% [95% confidence interval (CI) 25-75%] for carrier detection and 25% (95% CI 7-52%) for carrier isolation. The CPE screening tool had sensitivity of 25% (95% CI 1-81%) and none of the CPE carriers were isolated. CONCLUSION: The national screening tools were of limited use as the majority of MRSA and CPE carriers passed unidentified through the EDs, and many patients were isolated unnecessarily.

Risk factors for recurrence and death after bacteraemia: a population-based study.

Although most bacteraemic outcome studies have focused on mortality, a repeated episode(s) is another important outcome of bacteraemia. We sought to characterize patient factors and microbial species associated with recurrence and death from bacteraemia. Population-based surveillance for bacteraemia was conducted in a Canadian health region during 2000-2008. Episodes of bacteraemia were extracted and characterized. Transition intensities of both recurrence and death were estimated by separate multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. We identified 9713 patients with incident episodes of bacteraemia. Within 1 year: 892 (9.2%) had recurrent bacteraemia, 2401 (24.7%) had died without a recurrent episode and 330 (3.4%) had died after a recurrent episode. Independent risk factors for recurrence within 1 year (hazard ratio; 95% confidence interval) were: increasing Charlson comorbidity scores (score 1-2: 2.2; 1.8-2.7 and score 3+: 3.4; 2.8-4.2), origin of infection (nosocomial: 2.1; 1.8-2.6 and healthcare-associated: 2.4; 2.0-2.8), microorganism (polymicrobial: 1.5; 1.2-2.0 and fungal: 2.8; 1.9-4.2) and focus of infection (verified urogenital: 0.4; 0.3-0.6). Independent risk factors for death within 1 year included: a recurrent bacteraemic episode 3.6 (3.1-4.0), increasing age and different foci of infection. This study identifies patient groups at risk of having a recurrent episode and dying from these infections. It adds recurrent bacteraemia as an independent risk factor of death within 1 year and may help to target patients for prevention or changes in management.