The decreasing positivity of blood culture examination from the
1990s to the 2000s may be attributed to the improved awareness
among physicians of testing blood cultures for suspected sepsis.
The geographic differences in the blood culture positivity may also
partially reflect the differences in the awareness of the need to
perform blood culture between eastern, central and western China.
In particular, in western China, the blood culture positivity among
neonatal-pediatric patients with suspected sepsis was 1.8 times
that in eastern China. Increased use of blood culture examination is
potentially associated with early diagnosis of sepsis and timely
alteration of antibiotics. Western China is a relatively less
developed region of mainland China and, thus, the accessibility
of healthcare and abundance of medical resources is relatively
limited compared to eastern China. This finding highlights the
necessity of improving access to healthcare in western China.
Additionally, empirical treatment for sepsis should be based on
local patterns of antibiotic resistance until the etiologic agent has
been identified.26 However, the microbiology among adult patients
with sepsis is almost of equal risk between Gram (+) and Gram ()
bacteria in mainland China; thus, the empirical treatment should
be largely dependent on the original site of infection. The
microbiology in mainland China is different from the experiences
from other countries.9–11 In particular, Gram (+) bacteria were the
predominant microorganisms among neonatal or pediatric
patients with sepsis, and the proportion of Gram (+) bacteria
has tended to increase over time. According to a report by
Jaramillo-Bustamante et al.,12 these bacteria should be a strong
indication for empirical antibiotic treatment with a relatively
narrow spectrum targeting Gram (+) bacteria. Additionally, sepsis
with fungus was found to be relative rare in mainland China,
especially among neonatal or pediatric patients, and its proportion
remained stable over time. Moreover, the risk of fungal sepsis was
found to be associated with age. The proportion of fungal sepsis
among adult patients was 8-fold that of neonatal patients. This
finding indicates that positive antifungal treatment for highly
suspected fungal sepsis in adult patients needs to be considered in
cases of absent or questionable blood culture results.
In summary, the sepsis mortality declined in small sized cities
and rural areas, but increased slightly in major cities in mainland
China during the first decade of the 21st century. The mortality
among the elderly declined but increased among neonates. The
positivity of blood culture remained relatively stable among
suspected sepsis patients. The proportion of Gram (+) bacteria was
significantly higher than that of Gram () bacteria among neonates
with sepsis, but the proportions were equal among adults.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.
Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
81301866).
Data sharing: The reference list of literatures identified from the
China Academic Journal Full-text Database (CAJ) was unpublished.
These extra data is available by emailing Dr. Xin-Zu Chen