This study investigated microbiological, clinical, and management issues and outcomes for Danish fungemia patients. Isolates and clinical information were collected at six centers. A total of 334 isolates, 316 episodes, and 305 patients were included, corresponding to 2/3 of the national episodes. Blood culture positivity varied by system, species, and procedure. Thus, cases with concomitant bacteremia were reported less commonly by BacT/Alert than by the Bactec system (9% [11/124 cases] versus 28% [53/192 cases]; P < 0.0001), and cultures with Candida glabrata or those drawn via arterial lines needed longer incubation. Species distribution varied by age, prior antifungal treatment (57% occurrence of C. glabrata, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or C. krusei in patients with prior antifungal treatment versus 28% occurrence in those without it; P ؍ 0.007), and clinical specialty (61% occurrence of C. glabrata or C. krusei in hematology wards versus 27% occurrence in other wards; P ؍ 0.002). Colonization samples were not predictive for the invasive species in 11/100 cases. Fifty-six percent of the patients had undergone surgery, 51% were intensive care unit (ICU) patients, and 33% had malignant disease. Mortality increased by age (P ؍ 0.009) and varied by species (36% for C. krusei, 25% for C. parapsilosis, and 14% for other Candida species), severity of underlying disease (47% for ICU patients versus 24% for others; P ؍ 0.0001), and choice but not timing of initial therapy (12% versus 48% for patients with C. glabrata infection receiving caspofungin versus fluconazole; P ؍ 0.023). The initial antifungal agent was deemed suboptimal upon species identification in 15% of the cases, which would have been 6.5% if current guidelines had been followed. A large proportion of Danish fungemia patients were severely ill and received suboptimal initial antifungal treatment. Optimization of diagnosis and therapy is possible.
Surveillance of fungemia was initiated in Denmark in 2003and has demonstrated a high incidence of this condition and an increasing proportion of isolates belonging to the not fully susceptible species Candida glabrata and C. krusei from a Nordic as well as a global perspective (4, 9-11, 16, 23, 27, 40, 41, 46, 52).A number of recent surveys have provided important information on underlying diseases and host factors in patients with fungemia. The most important factors are (i) critical illness with a prolonged stay in the intensive care unit (ICU); (ii) abdominal surgery, especially if it is complicated or repeated; (iii) low birth weight; (iv) acute necrotizing pancreatitis; (v) malignant disease; (vi) organ transplantation, especially of the liver; (vii) Candida colonization; and (viii) use of antibiotics, central venous catheters, steroids, dialysis, and total parenteral nutrition.The crude 30-day mortality was 30 to 40% in most population-based studies enrolling patients until the turn of the millennium (2,4,12,14,16,29,41,42,49,52) but was lower in recent studies (16,17,36) and higher for ICU pati...