Staph Aureus: Expert Advice Matters

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. To see if consulting with infectious disease department doctors makes a difference in patients' outcomes, a team in Edmonton, Canada looked back at patients with SAB hospitalized at University Alberta Hospital from 2010 to 2012. Reporting at ID Week 2015 in San Diego, CA, Sarah Mansour, MBBCh and colleagues there and at Grey Nuns Hospital found 342 SAB patients, of whom 17 died within two days of getting a positive blood culture.

Of the remaining patients, 203 received infectious disease consults and 122 did not.

In those who got the consult, 176 (87%) had appropriate duration of antibiotics while 122 (49%) did not.

Patients who got the consults were also more likely to have an echocardiogram performed.

The two groups had a striking difference in mortality. While 10% of the patients who received consults died within 30 days, 30% of the patients who did not get the consultations died within that time period.

“Our study demonstrates with infectious disease consultation for management of Stapylococcus aureus is associated with more appropriate duration of treatment, evaluation by echocardiography and a lower rate of mortality,” the team concluded. They recommend that these consults be made mandatory, or at least that “standardized recommendations regarding management be included with the SAB microbiology lab report.”