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Volume 20, Number 5—May 2014
Research

Streptococcus mitis Strains Causing Severe Clinical Disease in Cancer Patients

Samuel A. ShelburneComments to Author , Pranoti Sahasrabhojane, Miguel Saldana, Hui Yao, Xiaoping Su, Nicola Horstmann, Erika Thompson, and Anthony R. Flores
Author affiliations: MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA (S.A. Shelburne, P. Sahasrabhojane, M. Saldana, H. Yao, X. Su, N. Horstmann, E. Thompson); Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA (A.R. Flores)

Main Article

Table 1

Characteristics of 118 participants in a study of Streptococcus mitis strains causing severe clinical disease in patients with cancer*

Characteristic No. (%)
Sex
M 64 (54)
F
 54 (46)
Mean age, y (SD, range)
 50 (18, 10–79)
Malignancy 70 (59)
Leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome 20 (17)
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation 10 (8)
Lymphoma/myeloma 18 (15)
Solid tumor
 20 (17)
Neutrophils <500/μL
 95 (81)
Clinical syndrome
Primary bacteremia 95 (80)
Gastrointestinal focus 8 (7)
Skin/soft tissue focus 4 (3)
Infective endocarditis 2 (2)
Clinically minor bacteremia
 9 (7)
Polymicrobial infection
 22 (19)
Pitt bacteremia score†‡
0 35 (37)
1 36 (38)
2 5 (5)
3 7 (7)
>4
 13 (13)
Antimicrobial drug susceptibility
Penicillin 54 (46)
Ceftriaxone 107 (91)
Moxifloxacin 60 (51)
Tetracycline 69 (59)

*All patients had viridans group streptococci bacteremia. Unless otherwise noted, data are no. (%) of patients.
†Severity of infection was measured by the Pitt bacteremia score as described (21). Scores of 0 or 1 indicate clinically mild infections; scores of >2 indicate moderate to severe infections.
‡Determined only for patients with monomicrobial infection.

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Page created: April 16, 2014
Page updated: April 16, 2014
Page reviewed: April 16, 2014
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