Bacteraemia as a result of Campylobacter species: a population-based study of epidemiology and clinical risk factors

Abstract

Invasive disease as a result of Campylobacter is rarely reported. We reviewed 46 cases of blood stream infection with Campylobacter in a Danish population with complete follow-up. The incidence was 2.9 per 1 million person-years with a peak incidence in the age group above 80 years. In the population, the ratio of notified bacteraemia/enteritis patients with Campylobacter infection was 0.004. Patients with bacteraemia were older and had higher comorbidity, e.g. alcoholism, immunosuppression, previous gastrointestinal surgery or HIV infection. We found 26% of blood isolates resistant to ciprofloxacin. The length of hospitalization was significantly longer in bacteraemia patients, whereas the outcome was favourable with 28-day mortality of 4% in bacteraemia patients and 1% in enteritis patients. None of the bacteraemia patients relapsed within 365-day follow-up.

Campylobacterbacteremia: A rare and under-reported event?

“…For example, in a hospital-based study, Tee and Wijch reported a prevalence of 1.6% for bacteremia in persons infected with Campylobacter [60]. However, in background population-based studies, Campylobacter bacteremia was observed to be 5-10 times less abundant, with reported mortalities being between 2 and 13% [56]. Further, the clinical setting may also be responsible for the differences reported between C. jejuni-induced bacteremia and patient age.…”

“…Other studies from Finland and Denmark estimated the annual incidence of Campylobacter-related bacteremia to be 0.2-0.29/100,000 [53,56]. In these studies, it was estimated that for every 1000 gastroenteritis cases, three episodes of bacteremia could be detected, though this frequency may differ in hospitalbased populations.…”

“…Further, the clinical setting may also be responsible for the differences reported between C. jejuni-induced bacteremia and patient age. In 1990, hospitalized children in the age group of 0-9 years were found to be most at risk for Campylobacter-related bacteremia, whereas in 2007, a population-based study indicated that elderly persons older than 60 years were more at risk [56].…”

Campylobacter bacteremia in London: A 44-year single-center study

“…Predisposing host risk factors described in the literature include male gender and the host immune status prior to bacterial exposure [25,26]. In a single centre study in Madrid, Spain, a total of 15 out of 64 cases (23%) of Campylobacter bacteraemia were in patients with known HIV infection [15].…”

Clinical Features of Bacteremia due to <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i>

“…Bacteremia due to Campylobacter species has been considered rare; it was detected in less than 1% of patients with gastroenteritis due to these species (2). Therefore, the clinical features of bacteremia due to Campylobacter species have been the focus of several investigators and have yet to be fully elucidated (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). Most previous reports are from European countries and included data obtained from cases of bacteremia due to not only C. jejuni but also other Campylobacter species.…”