[Impact of SARS-COV-2 on the diagnosis of community bacteremia in a tertiary hospital].

OBJECTIVE

We carry out an analysis of the bacteremia diagnosed in the Emergency Department during 2020, coinciding with the period of the pandemic.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective analysis from March 4, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

RESULTS

The number of patients who went to the Emergency Department during the study period and the number of extracted blood cultures decreased by 46.79% and 35.7% compared to the same period in 2019 (p <0.05). 320 bacteremia occurred while 507 occurred in 2019, assuming a decrease of 36.8% (p <0.05). The positivity rate of blood cultures was 7.09% in 2020 and 7.23% in 2019 and the contamination rate was 7.07 % in 2020 and 5.67% in 2019. The most frequently isolated microorganism was Escherichia coli, followed by Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. A 6.62% of the isolated E. coli were carriers of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL). The percentage of methicillin-resistant S. aureus was 12.9 % and that of K. pneumoniae ESBL was 11.54%.

CONCLUSIONS

During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic there has been a decrease in the number of bacteremia diagnoses, it is possible that attention was focused especially on COVID, forgetting other diseases, such as bacteremia.