Appropriate empirical antibiotic treatment has a significant survival benefit in MRSA bacteraemia. Treatment guidelines should consider this benefit.

In our center, 42% of monomicrobial necrotizing fasciitis cases were found to be caused by Gram-negative organisms, mostly E. coli. These infections usually appeared in immunocompromised or postoperative patients, often presented with normal CPK levels, and were associated with high mortality rates.

IMW candidemic patients account for a substantial proportion of candidemia cases and have unique characteristics and high mortality rates.

Enterococci are increasingly common nosocomial pathogens that can cause serious infections and often acquire antibiotic resistance. This study focused on the epidemiological, microbiological and clinical characteristics of enterococcal bacteraemia with special attention to the impact of high level gentamicin resistance (HLGR) on prognosis. 117 cases of enterococcal bacteraemia constituted 8% of all bacteraemic episodes during the y 2002. The most common source of infection was the urinary tract, more than half of the episodes were polymicrobial and the vast majority of cases was healthcare-associated. 50 of 117 isolates (43%) were resistant to gentamicin. Infection-related mortality (22 of 117, 19%) was associated with 2 independent variables in multivariate analysis: severity-of-illness score (OR=39.6, p<0.00001) and HLGR (OR=6.4, p=0.006). It was concluded that HLGR adversely affects the outcome of bacteraemic enterococcal infection.