ABSTRACT
A six-month prospective study of costs associated with antimicrobial therapy in nosocomial bacteremia was conducted from November 1, 1995 to April 30, 1996 in a 1837-bed teaching hospital, with the help of the hospital pharmacists and hospital hygiene unit. Only the costs due to the antimicrobials themselves were taken into account. A total of 238 cases of nosocomial bacteremia occurred during the study period. The total direct cost of antimicrobial therapy was 444,931 French francs (FF), i.e., 6.8% of total expenditures for antimicrobials. Mean cost per case was 1869 FF, and was 2.6-fold higher in the 21 patients with bacteremia due to more than one organism (P = 0.03). CAses with an identifiable portal of entry contributed 75% of the total cost. Portals of entry associated with the highest cost included central venous lines (103,928 FF) and urinary tract infections (50,810 FF). Although 20% of nosocomial bacteremias due to coagulase-negative staphylococci did not lead to antimicrobial therapy, the remaining 80% contributed 40.8% of the total cost, followed by nosocomial bacteremias due to Escherichia coli with 19.7% of the total cost. Thirty-seven patients (15.5%) did not receive specific antimicrobial therapy, for the following reasons: death before treatment initiation, transfer to another hospital, antimicrobial therapy initiated earlier for another infection elsewhere in the body due to a different organism, or other form of treatment. The results of this study highlight the need for prevention.
