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Volume 11, Number 4—April 2005
Research

Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia, Australia

Peter Collignon*Comments to Author , Graeme R. Nimmo†, Thomas Gottlieb‡, Iain B. Gosbell§, on behalf of the Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance
Author affiliations: *The Canberra Hospital, Garran, Australian Capital Territory, Australia; †Queensland Health Pathology Service, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; ‡Concord Hospital, Concord, New South Wales, Australia; and; §Southwestern Area Pathology Service, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia

Main Article

Table 3

Estimated numbers of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, Australia*

Principal referral public hospitals Large public hospitals Medium public hospitals Small acute-care public hospitals† Other public hospitals‡ Total acute-care public hospitals§ Total private Total Australia-wide (based on tally of public and private hospitals)
Published data for Australia 2001–2002 (13)
Number of hospitals 66 40 103 134 381 724 537¶ 1,306
No. of beds 27,258 5,760 6,386 3,216 6,384 49,004 27,407 75,516
Total admissions (x1,000) 2,585 561 486 153 165 3,950 2,426 6,376
Same day separations (x1,000) – – – – – 1,886 1,453 –
Average length of stay 3.8 3.6 3.4 – – 4.1 2.9 3.5
S. aureus BSI episodes (calculated rates from data in this study)
S. aureus BSI rate/1,000 admissions 0.81–2.29 0.68–3.24 0.93 0.6 0.6 0.68–3.24 0.6 0.6–3.24
Estimated episodes/y 2,094–5,920 381–1,818 452 92 99 2,370–12,798 1,456 3,826–20,658
Median rate/1,000 admissions 1.59 1.27 0.93 0.6 0.6 1.37 0.6 NA
Estimated episodes/y (based on median) 5,412 1,456 6,867
Hospital-onset MSSA
Rate/1,000 admissions 0.10–0.74 0.08–0.62 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.08–0.74 0.44 0.10–0.97
Estimated episodes/y 259–1,913 45–347 31 137 21 316–2,923 1,067 638–4,718
Median rate/1,000 admissions 0.51 0.41 0.13 0.13 0 0.47 0.44 NA
Estimated episodes/y (based on median) 1,318 230 63 137 21 1,769 1, 067 2 836
Hospital-onset MRSA
Rate/1,000 admissions 0.04–0.89 0.06–0.22 0 0 0 0.05–0.89 0.05 0.05–0.89
Estimated episodes/y 103–2,301 34–123 0 0 0 198–3,516 121 255–5,675
Median rate/1,000 admissions 0.31 0.12 0 0 0 0.25 0.05 NA
Estimated episodes/y (based on median) 801 67 0 0 0 868 121 1.015

*BSIs, bloodstream infections; MSSA, methicillin-susceptible S. aureus; MRSA, methicillin-resistant S. aureus; NA, not applicable.
†No data from this study on smaller public hospitals. Therefore the assumed rate of sepsis is for lowest in other groups (i.e., private hospitals).
‡These public hospitals were those without case mix-adjusted admissions data and also non-acute small hospitals. The assumed rate of sepsis is for lowest in other groups (i.e., private hospitals).
§Acute care public hospitals exclude psychiatric hospitals.
¶Of private hospitals, 246 were day only; 314 others had admissions for >24 h.

Main Article

1Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance contributors to this study were the following: Thomas Gottlieb, Concord Hospital; David McGechie, Denise Daley, Fremantle Hospital; John Ferguson, John Hunter Hospital; James Branley, Nepean Hospital; Graeme R. Nimmo, Princes Alexandria Hospital; Gary Lum, Royal Darwin Hospital; Alistair McGregor, Royal Hobart Hospital; Clarence Fernandes, Royal North Shore Hospital; Iain Gosbell, Archie Darbar, South West Area Health Service, New South Wales; Peter Collignon, Jan Roberts, Canberra Hospital.

Page created: May 26, 2011
Page updated: May 26, 2011
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The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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