Pasteurella bacteraemia: impact of comorbidities on outcome, based on a case series and literature review

Abstract Objectives Pasteurella bacteraemia is rare but has been associated with a high mortality rate. We aim to estimate the impact of comorbidities in patients with Pasteurella bacteraemia. Methods All cases ofPasteurella bacteraemia in adults in our centre between January 2008 and December 2017 were retrospectively included and compared with a systematic review of the literature via Medline between 1951 and 2017. We collected the epidemiological, bacteriological and clinical data and instances of death after 30 days. Results 20 cases ofPasteurella bacteraemia from a French centre and 99 cases from the literature review were included. A major comorbidity was found in 80/119 (67.2%) patients. The death rate at 30 days was 31.1%. The most common comorbidities were cirrhosis, immunosuppressive therapy and malignant diseases. Age was not associated with mortality. The only factor associated with mortality was a major comorbidity in multivariate analysis (OR 2.78 [95% CI: 1.01-7.70], p = 0.04). Conclusions This study confirms the high mortality rate and highlights the importance of the host background, independent of age, inPasteurella bacteraemia. Clinicians should be aware of the comorbidities in cases of Pasteurella infections, due to the poor prognosis of bacteraemia.