Table 1.
Characteristics of patients with Bacillus cereus bloodstream infection
| Variable | All patients (n = 29) | Empirical therapy that was deemed | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appropriate (n = 9) | Inappropriate (n = 20) | |||
| Age, years (median, range) | 65.3 (18–89) | 68 (18–89) | 65 (47–83) | 0.743 |
| Sex (male/female) | 16/13 | 4/5 | 12/8 | 0.688 |
| No. of patients with comorbidity | ||||
| Diabetes mellitus | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.675 |
| Malignancy | 15 | 4 | 11 | 0.700 |
| Liver cirrhosis | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1.00 |
| Immunosuppressant | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0.633 |
| Neutropenia | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.280 |
| No. of patients with implanted device | ||||
| Central venous catheter | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.633 |
| Peripheral venous catheter | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0.382 |
| Others | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0.642 |
| Source of BSI | ||||
| Total catheter-related infection | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0.675 |
| Peripheral blood catheter | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0.427 |
| Central venous catheter | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1.00 |
| Othersa | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0.153 |
| Unknown | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.568 |
| Laboratory data (average, range) | ||||
| White blood cell count (/μL) | 7497 (100–22,200) | 9630 (1800–22,200) | 6537 (100–16,100) | 0.052 |
| C-reactive protein (g/dL) | 4.19 (0.04–16.6) | 3.79 (0.04–16.6) | 3.34 (0.17–13.7) | 0.514 |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 3.29 (2.10–4.20) | 2.71 (2.10–3.90) | 3.45 (2.40–4.20) | 0.206 |
aOther sources of BSI in the inappropriate empirical therapy group include febrile neutropenia (2 cases), possible infective endocarditis according to modified Duke’s criteria (2 cases), and peritonitis (1 case)