Table 1 Patient demographics

Age, median (IQR), years

60 (47–68)

63.5 (51–76)

58 (44–68)

Sex

  Male

69 (59)

72 (62)

63 (54)

  Female

47 (41)

44 (38)

53 (46)

Unit of admission

  Haematology/oncology

61 (53)

43 (37)

67 (58)

  Non-haematology/oncology

55 (47)

73 (63)

49 (42)

Reason for admission

  Medical

89 (77)

87 (75)

89 (77)

  Surgical

27 (23)

29 (25)

27 (23)

Charlson score, median (IQR)

4 (2–5)

3 (1–5)

4 (1–4)

Chronic disease score-VRE (CDS-VRE), median (IQR)

1 (0–1.9)

0 (0–1)

0 (0–1.6)

Lung disease

17 (15)

17 (15)

17 (15)

Ischaemic heart disease

25 (22)

23 (20)

11 (9)

Myocardial infarction

10 (9)

10 (9)

3 (3)

Congestive heart failure

13 (11)

14 (12)

2 (2)

Cerebrovascular disease

7 (6)

13 (11)

5 (4)

Gastrointestinal disease

54 (47)

64 (55)

38 (33)

Renal disease

21 (18)

18 (16)

15 (13)

Diabetes mellitus

25 (22)

30 (26)

20 (17)

Cancer

74 (64)

64 (55)

74 (64)

Solid organ transplant recipient

14 (12)

7 (6)

5 (4)

Enterococcus species

  E. faecalis

9 (8)

71 (61)

-

  E. faecium

107 (92)

39 (34)

-

  E. casseliflavus, E. gallinarum, or E. durans

-

4 (3)

-

  Both E. faecalis and E. faecium

-

1 (1)

-

  Unknown

-

1 (1)

-

Polymicrobial bacteraemia

33 (28)

50 (43)

-

Infection (other than due to Enterococci) prior to bacteraemia (VRE and VSE cases) and prior to discharge (controls)

61 (53)

43 (37)

34 (29)

Days from admission until bacteraemia, median (IQR), days

16 (7–24)

7.5 (1–18.5)

-

Total length of stay, median (IQR), days

35 (22.5-50.5)

25 (16–45.5)

9 (5–20)

In-hospital mortality

42 (36)

30 (26)

5 (4)