Identifying the patient risk for Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the leading causes of bloodstream infection, and these infections still have a high mortality. In certain clinical situations and for the planning of future prophylactic precautions, it is important to identify patients at risk of S. aureus bloodstream infection. Nearly all patients with S. aureus bloodstream infection have underlying conditions such as cardiovascular disease, renal disease, previous surgery, intravenous drug abuse, or malignancy. The great proportion of patients are over 60 years old and the infection is most often acquired in the hospital. The most common focus is intravascular catheters followed by wounds, skin, lungs, bone and joints, and heart valves. The potential risk factors are nasal carriage, previous hospitalisation, surgery, trauma, haemodialysis, presence of high risk focus, acquisition in an orthopaedic ward, and intravenous drug abuse.