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. 1967 Jul;15(4):808–814. doi: 10.1128/am.15.4.808-814.1967

Etiology of Bacteremia

Harry P Dalton 1, Marvin J Allison 1
PMCID: PMC547070  PMID: 4860529

Abstract

Blood-culture results for a 15-year period from a large southern hospital were tabulated and analyzed for alterations in the bacterial species associated with bacteremia. From 15,543 cultures, 2,410 positive cultures (15.6%) were obtained. These results were grouped into 5-year periods, and an alteration in the incidence of the agents was demonstrated. In the past 5 years, gram-negative bacilli have replaced gram-positive cocci as the most common agents of bacteremia, and several species not formerly associated with septicemia were found to be involved in a large number of cases. The importance of the clinical laboratory monitoring blood culture results was demonstrated as was the need for constant collaboration between the clinician and microbiologist.

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Selected References

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