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Many changes have occurred since the clinical significance of bloodstream infections (BSIs) was first examined more than 3 decades ago. To update our understanding of contemporary bacteremia and fungemia, researchers conducted a multicenter, retrospective study involving adults who were hospitalized at one of three U.S. academic medical centers in 2004 and had at least one positive blood culture (n=1706).
Infectious diseases physicians reviewed each participant's medical record. They determined whether the positive blood culture represented a true BSI, and — if so — whether death was attributable to the BSI. They calculated the in-hospital case-fatality rate (CFR) based on the number of patients with true BSIs who died during hospitalization…