The epidemiology of hematogenous vertebral osteomyelitis: a cohort study in a tertiary care hospital

BMC Infectious Diseases

Table 3 Microbiology of 70 cases of hematogenous vertebral osteomyelitis from blood cultures and/or bone biopsies

Organism detected	n (%)
MSSA	15 (21)
MRSA	10 (14)
Coagulase-negative staphylococci	7 (10)
Streptococcus spp.	4 (6)
E. coli	3 (4)
P. aeruginosa	2 (3)
E. faecalis	2 (3)
A. baumannii	1 (1)
E. cloacae	1 (1)
Propionibacterium sp.	1 (1)
No organism recovered	24 (34)

NOTE. Blood and/or bone cultures were performed in all 70 patients. MSSA = methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA = methicillin-resistant S. aureus. There were five cases of coagulase-negative staphylococci diagnosed with blood cultures, and two diagnosed by bone biopsies and blood cultures. The single Propionibacterium sp. infection was diagnosed by bone biopsy. There were two polymicrobial infections: one Staphylococcus aureus infection together with unidentifiable Gram-negative bacilli, and one coagulase-negative staphylococcal and Corynebacterium sp. infection.

ISSN: 1471-2334