Antimicrobial Susceptibility Characteristics and Risk Factors Associated with Adult Sepsis in Wenzhou, China

Xiaoxiao Qu,1,&ast; Shishi Wang,1,&ast; Ying Qu,2 Huiyan Wang,1 Xuanmei Ye,1 Luming Tang,3 Qipeng Xie1 1Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Clinical Laboratory, Wenzhou People’s Hospital, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Shanghai University, The Third Clinical Institute Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, People’s Republic of China; 3Emergency Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Qipeng Xie, Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 151 577 87159, Email pandon2002@163.comPurpose: To clarify the distribution of pathogenic bacteria by analyzing the bacterial susceptibility characteristics and risk factors for adult sepsis in The Wenzhou city, Zhejiang province, China, and to aid early diagnosis, monitoring, and prognosis prediction in cases of bacterial sepsis.Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 329 patients with sepsis admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University between January 2018 and March 2021. Laboratory data were collected before and after treatment; moreover, the bacterial susceptibility characteristics and risk factors for sepsis were comprehensively analyzed using the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score.Results: The SOFA score was negatively correlated with the prognosis (P < 0.05). We isolated 47 pathogenic strains from blood culture samples, including 29 gram-positive strains, 18 gram-negative strains. The most common gram-negative pathogens in blood cultures are Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli, while the most common gram-positive pathogens are Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus hominis. Gram-negative pathogens had resistance rates of 77% and 62.5% to ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone, respectively. Gram-positive bacteria had a high resistance to penicillin at 100%. Prognostic factors for sepsis included patients’ consciousness, SOFA score, prothrombin time, international normalized ratio, fibrinogen, D-dimer, and aspartate aminotransferase (P < 0.05). Of these, the D-dimer level could predict the outcome of patients with sepsis (AUC = 0.661, P < 0.05).Conclusion: The pathogens detected in adult sepsis in Wenzhou are mainly Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus hominis. The pathogens exhibited differences in drug susceptibility. The optimal antibiotics should be chosen based on the principles of rational use and drug susceptibility. Combined with D-dimer levels, these parameters can be used to determine the optimal strategy for preventing and treating pathogenic bacteria.Keywords: adult sepsis, drug susceptibility characteristics, risk factors, D-dimer