Bacteremia due to Klebsiella oxytoca: Clinical features of patients and antimicrobial susceptibilities of the isolates

Forty-three patients with Klebsiella oxytoca bacteremia were seen between July 1980 and June 1996 at National Taiwan University Hospital (Taipei, Taiwan). We retrospectively analyzed the clinical features of these patients and the antimicrobial susceptibilities of the 43 isolates recovered from them. Twenty-seven patients (63%) had community-acquired bacteremia, and 16 patients (37%) had polymicrobial bacteremia. The clinical syndromes included hepatobiliary infections (58% of patients), primary bacteremia (23%), intravascular device-associated infections (7%), urinary tract infections (5%), skin and soft-tissue infections (5%), and peritonitis (2%). Most of these patients (93%) had underlying diseases including hepatobiliary diseases (53%), neoplastic diseases (42%), and diabetes mellitus (16%). Eight patients (19%) had septic shock, and two (5%) had disseminated intravascular coagulation. Four patients (9%) died of K. oxytoca bacteremia. All isolates were susceptible to ampicillin/sulbactam, cefmetazole, imipenem, aminoglycosides, and quinolones, and 86% of the isolates were susceptible to cefazolin.