Table 3.
Distribution and Rank Order of the 15 Most Frequently Reported Pathogens Across All Types of Adult Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), 2015–2017
| Pathogena | No. (%) Pathogens | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Escherichia coli | 62,571 (17.5) | 1 |
| Staphylococcus aureus | 42,132 (11.8) | 2 |
| Selected Klebsiella spp | 31,530 (8.8) | 3 |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | 28,513 (8.0) | 4 |
| Enterococcus faecalisb | 28,236 (7.9) | 5 |
| Coagulase-negative staphylococci | 24,199 (6.8) | 6 |
| Enterobacter spp | 16,568 (4.6) | 7 |
| Enterococcus faeciumb | 13,687 (3.8) | 8 |
| Proteus spp | 11,463 (3.2) | 9 |
| Candida albicansb | 11,043 (3.1) | 10 |
| Other Enterococcus sppb,c | 11,020 (3.1) | 11 |
| Bacteroides spp | 8,251 (2.3) | 12 |
| Viridans group streptococci | 6,575 (1.8) | 13 |
| Other Candida sppb,c | 6,467 (1.8) | 14 |
| Candida glabratab | 5,152 (1.4) | 15 |
| Otherd | 49,226 (13.8) | |
| Total | 356,633 (100.0) |
Note. Selected Klebsiella spp, K. oxytoca and K. pneumoniae.
The following species were frequently reported to the NHSN but are considered part of a larger pathogen group for this table: Staphylococcus epidermidis (11,482; 47.4% of coagulase-negative staphylococci); Enterobacter cloacae complex group (11,886; 71.7% of Enterobacter spp); Proteus mirabilis (10,662; 93.0% of Proteus spp).
When analyzed on the genus level, Enterococcus ranks #2, and Candida ranks #7.
The group ‘Other Enterococcus spp’ combines enterococci identified to the species level, excluding E. faecium and E. faecalis, and enterococci for which the species was not reported. The group ‘Other Candida spp’ combines Candida identified to the species level, excluding C. albicans and C. glabrata, and Candida for which the species were not reported.
A complete distribution of all pathogens reported from adult HAIs can be found in the 2015–2017 Adult Antimicrobial Resistance Report Online Supplement (https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/datastat/index.html).