ArticlePloS one2022
Bacterial DNA load in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia is significantly higher in intravascular infections.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Time to Staphylococcus aureus Blood Culture Positivity as a Risk Marker of Infective Endocarditis: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
- Cytosolic nucleic acid sensing as driver of critical illness: mechanisms and advances in therapy.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Review
- Updates on Donor-Derived Infection in Solid Organ Transplantation, Report from the 2024 GTI (Infection and Transplantation Group) Annual Meeting.Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation · 2025Article
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4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesDetermination of pathogen-specific bacterial DNA load (BDL) in blood has been shown to be directly correlated with severity of infection in patients with bacteremia. In the diagnostic work-up of patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB), determination of the primary focus is imperative, because of implications for treatment duration, and ultimately prognosis. Here we investigate whether measurement of BDL in patients with SAB can distinguish between intravascular and extravascular foci of infection.
methodsIn a consecutive cohort of 43 patients with positive blood cultures with Staphylococcus aureus, we performed a quantitative PCR on whole blood to detect the bacterial DNA load. Infections were classified into 3 categories: i) soft tissue infections and phlebitis, ii) deep-seated infections and iii) endocarditis and other intravascular infections. Bacterial DNA loads and inflammatory parameters in the three categories were analyzed and compared.
resultsMedian BDL in patients with endocarditis and other intravascular infections was 1015 cfu/ml, significantly higher than BDL in the other two categories (28 and 31 cfu/ml respectively). In contrast, CRP and leukocytes were not significantly different between the three patient categories. BDL could be detected in all patients with intravascular causes and levels were generally 10-30 times higher than in the other infection categories. Median BDL in non-survivors was 85 cfu/ml, which was higher than in survivors with a median BDL of 29 cfu/ml, although not significant.
conclusionsIn Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia pathogen-specific BDL is distinctly higher in patients with intravascular infections compared to extravascular origins. As measurement of BDL by PCR can easily be implemented in routine diagnostics, it can improve the diagnostic work-up of SAB by rapidly identifying the subset of patients who need higher dosages of antibiotics and additional measures to improve outcome.
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