Therapy of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia associated with a removable focus of infection.

We did a retrospective study of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia--from removable foci of infection--treated with short course antimicrobial therapy. Patients with S. aureus endocarditis were excluded from our study. The majority of patients had sepsis from intravascular devices. After removal of the focus of bacteremia, antibiotics were administered for a mean period of 15.2 days. There were no relapses, and no patient developed endocarditis. A 10- to 21-day antibiotic regimen can be curative in S. aureus bacteremia associated with a removable focus of infection.