Blood poisoning – a dangerous complication | Bacteremia – What is that?

Blood poisoning – a dangerous complication

Blood poisoning (sepsis) is a dreaded complication of bacteremia. By definition, it differs from bacteremia in the occurrence of physical symptoms such as fever and chills. Sepsis is always preceded by bacteremia, even if in some cases it develops so quickly that no bacteremia can be detected beforehand.

However, not every bacteremia ends in blood poisoning! If you want to protect yourself from blood poisoning in the presence of a bacteremia, you should take your body temperature at least once a day and generally watch out for flu-like symptoms. Blood tests should be taken seriously.

Bacteremia can be treated with antibiotics. It is important to follow the doctor’s treatment guidelines. In this way, bacteremia can be controlled very well in most cases and the development of blood poisoning can be prevented. More about the symptoms of blood poisoning can be found here: Symptoms of blood poisoning

Therapy of a bacteremia

If the immune system is intact and the number of pathogens detected in the blood test is not too high, a therapy for bacteremia can often be dispensed with. In this case, it is limited to repeating the blood test after a few days in order to monitor the course of the pathogen count. If, on the other hand, it can be assumed that the body will not manage to eliminate the cause of the bacteremia and eliminate the pathogens on its own, it must be helped. For example, if the bacteremia is caused by a bacterial inflammation of a heart valve (endocarditis), antibiotic therapy appropriate to the pathogen is first initiated. If this does not have a satisfactory effect, surgical replacement of the affected heart valve may have to be considered in order to eliminate the source of the bacteremia permanently.

Duration and forecast

It is not possible to make general statements on the duration of a bacteremia due to the many possible causes, pathogens and individual differences in the immune system. There are cases, for example, in which after the first detection of a bacteremia, even without special treatment measures, no pathogens can be detected in the next blood test after a few days. On the other hand, a bacteremia can also persist over a very long period of time, especially if it is based on a chronic disease, for example an inflammation of the inner lining of the heart (endocarditis) or a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. In the vast majority of cases, regular check-ups and appropriate treatment can prevent the development of sepsis.

Blood test

In case of bacteremia, a so-called blood culture is applied. Blood is first taken from the patient and transferred directly into two culture bottles containing culture medium. Usually, one aerobic (oxygen-rich) and one anaerobic (no oxygen present) culture bottle is filled: Since some bacterial species prefer an oxygen-rich and some an oxygen-poor environment, this way the whole spectrum of possible causes of bacteremia can be covered.

The culture bottles are then incubated in an incubator at 37 °C for several days. Nowadays, the evaluation of the blood test is usually carried out automatically and provides a list of the bacterial species contained in the sample as well as their resistances or sensitivities to various classes of antibiotics. This information is particularly helpful for the selection of a suitable active substance for the therapy of bacteremia, if such a therapy becomes necessary. Infections through the skin to moist areas of the body (hands, feet, armpits, groin region): Infections through the oral mucosa: Infections through the nasopharynx: Infections through the mucous membrane of the intestines: Infections through the urogenital tract (genital and urinary organs):

  • Staphylococci
  • Corynebacteria
  • Pseudomonas
  • Enterobacteriaceae
  • Actinomycetes
  • Neisseries
  • Streptococci
  • Neisseries
  • Staphylococci
  • Enterococci
  • Clostridia
  • E. coli
  • Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS)
  • Enterococci