Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in a Brazilian Midwest teaching hospital

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia is a frequent and potentially fatal condition. Resistance to methicillin is considered to be a predictive factor for mortality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological behaviour of S. aureus bacteremia in a teaching hospital. The incidence was 5.1 cases per 1,000 admissions. There was a significant improvement in the susceptibility of S. aureus; the incidence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was 31.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 24.5-39.1); whereas MRSA bacteremia a decade before had accounted for 55.0% (95% CI 45.2-64.3) of the cases. Overall mortality due to S. aureus bacteremia was 29.3%. MRSA bacteremia was not a risk factor for death