CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF BACTEREMIA IN PNEUMOCOCCIC PNEUMONIA

Abstract

This paper is concerned with an analysis of 1,586 cases of pneumonia associated with specific pneumococci of types I to XXXII (Cooper¹) in which cultures of the blood were made during the acute stage of the disease or at autopsy. The purpose of this study is to correlate the incidence of bacteremia and the death rate with the more common factors known or supposed to influence the prognosis, including (1) the type of pneumococcus, (2) the age of the patient, (3) the sex, (4) the character of the pulmonary lesion, (5) the extent of the pulmonary involvement, (6) alcoholism, (7) preexisting diseases and conditions and (8) the leukocyte count. The effect of bacteremia on the incidence of septic complications and on the duration of the acute stage of the disease in cases of uncomplicated pneumonia is noted. The incidence of positive blood cultures on different days of the disease