The aim of this study is to determine antibiotic resistance patterns and slime production characteristics of coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS) caused nosocomial bacteremia. A total of 200 CoNS strains were isolated from blood samples of patients with true bacteremia who were hospitalized in intensive care units and in other departments of Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Medical Hospital between 1999 and 2006. Among 200 CoNS isolates, Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most prevalent species (87) followed by Staphylococcus haemolyticus (23), Staphylococcus hominis (19), Staphylococcus lugdunensis (18), Staphylococcus capitis (15), Staphylococcus xylosus (10), Staphylococcus warneri (8), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (5), Staphylococcus lentus (5), Staphylococcus simulans (4), Staphylococcus chromogenes (3), Staphylococcus cohnii (1), Staphylococcus schleiferi (1), and Staphylococcus auricularis (1). Resistance to methicillin was detected in 67.5% of CoNS isolates. Methicillin-resistant CoNS strains were determined to be more resistant to antibiotics than methicillin-susceptible CoNS strains. Resistance rates of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible CoNS strains to the antibacterial agents, respectively, were as follows: gentamicin 90% and 17%, erythromycin 80% and 37%, clindamycin 72% and 18%, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole 68% and 38%, ciprofloxacin 67% and 23%, tetracycline 60% and 45%, chloramphenicol 56% and 13% and fusidic acid 25% and 15%. None of the strains were resistant to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Slime production was detected in 86 of 200 CoNS strains. Resistance to methicillin was found in 81% of slime-positive and in 57% of slime-negative strains. Our results indicated that there is a high level of resistance to widely used agents in causative methicillin-resistant CoNS strains. However fusidic acid has the smallest resistance ratio, with the exception of glycopeptides. Additionally, most S. epidermidis strains were slime-positive, with statistically significant (p<0.001) association between methicillin resistance and slime production.

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Objective: Candidemia is the most common type of invasive fungal infections. It is essential to initiate early and appropriate treatment. In this study, we aimed to compare the potential risk factors of candidemia and aerobic bacteremia. Methods: In this study, 21 patients with candidemia and 101 patients with bacteremia were retrospectively compared with 1567 patients who were admitted to a tertiary intensive care unit between January 2011 and January 2014. Potential risk factors for the patients were evaluated statistically. Results: The rate and incidence density of candidemia were, respectively, 1.34% and 1.62, whereas those for bacteremia were 9.38% and 11.37, respectively. According to our results, having a previous gastrointestinal system (GIS) surgery, solid organ tumor (p=0.0001), hemodialysis catheter (p=0.001), continuous hemodiafiltration (p=0.005), bogota bag (p=0.009), colostomy (p=0.033), abdominal drain (p=0.001), need for blood transfusion (p=0.025), and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) (p=0.0001) were found to be associated risk factors for candidemia in comparison with bacteremia. Conclusion:Patients who have blood stream infections have higher risk for morbidity and mortality in intensive care units. According to the results of our study, previous GIS surgery, having a surgical implement, solid organ tumor, end-stage renal disease, need for blood transfusion, and TPN were found to be risk factors of candidemia.