Background Part of Aeromonas bacteremia is polymicrobial infection. However, a clinical comparison of monomicrobial and polymicrobial Aeromonas bacteremia has not hitherto been reported.
Methods A retrospective analysis of medical records of patients with Aeromonas bacteremia at three large referral hospitals in Taiwan for an 8-year period (2001-2008) was conducted.
Results There were 154 patients with monomicrobial Aeromonas bacteremia and 62 patients with polymicrobial Aeromonas bacteremia. In the polymicrobial infections, E. coli was the most common combined pathogen (42%), followed by Klebsiella spp. (24%) and Enterobacter spp. (16%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed solid cancer as the risk factor for polymicrobial Aeromonas bacteremia, with male gender and cirrhosis as risk factors for monomicrobial Aeromonas bacteremia. However, of all types of solid cancer, hepatoma was associated with monomicrobial Aeromonas bacteremia. APACHE II score was the most important prognostic factor in both groups.
Conclusion Aeromonas bacteremia in patients with cirrhosis or male gender tended to be monomicrobial. Polymicrobial Aeromonas bacteremia was associated with solid cancers. In either polymicrobial or monomicrobial Aeromonas bacteremia, prognosis could be predicted according to disease severity measured by APACHE II score.