Clinical features and microbiological characteristics of hospital- and community-onset Escherichia coli bloodstream infection

Purpose. Escherichia coli is a leading cause of bloodstream infection (BSI) in hospitals and communities. Methodology. We conducted a retrospective study in 2015 to evaluate the clinical features and microbiological characteristics of E. coli BSI acquired in the hospital and community. Results. A total of 100 patients with E. coli BSI were enrolled, among whom 60% had hospital-onset (HO) BSI while 40% had community-onset (CO) BSI. Patients with HO BSI had higher percentages of haematological disorders, immunosuppression conditions, underwent surgery within 2weeks and had a higher 30-day mortality. The prevalences of multidrug-resistant and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing strains were 81 and 60%, respectively. Resistance percentages to ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, cefazolin, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin were greater than 50%. Of the 43 different sequence types (STs) identified, ST131 (15.3%) was the most common. The serum agglutination rate was 52% in which 13 O and 11 H serogroups were observed. Among the 36 detected virulence factor (VF) genes, IutA (66%) and traT (61%) were the most predominant. papA, papC and papEF were different between the CO and HO BSI groups. VF scores were high (mean >7) in the frequently detected ST95, ST1193 and ST131. Conclusion. This study revealed that the clinical features of HO and CO E. coli BSI were different. STs and serotypes showed a great diversity in this region while VF genes of the isolates varied between clones.