Bacteraemia due to extended-spectrum -lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) in cancer patients: clinical features, risk factors, molecular epidemiology and outcome

Abstract

In our centre, ESBL-EC bacteraemia is frequent among cancer patients, especially in those exposed to antibiotic pressure. All ESBL-EC strains were unrelated and most of them carried a CTX-M group enzyme. Patients with ESBL-EC bacteraemia received inadequate empirical antibiotic therapy more frequently than patients carrying a susceptible strain, but significant differences in mortality could not be demonstrated.