Article ID: JJID.2016.130
Staphylococcus lugdunensis (SL) is a highly pathogenic bacterium compared to other coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. (CoNS). However, in Japan, data for this pathogen are sparse, and the current prevalence of SL bacteremia is unknown.
A prospective multicenter study across five facilities was performed to investigate the prevalence of SL in blood culture specimens. There were 3,284 patients with positive blood cultures, and 2,478 patients had bacteremia. Among patients with bacteremia, 7 patients (0.28%) had SL bacteremia. A total of 281 patients had CoNS bacteremia, and SL accounted for 2.49% of these cases. Of the 7 patients with SL bacteremia, 1 patient (14.3%) had infective endocarditis, and 1 patient (14.3%) died within 30 days. In this study, SL resulted in the development of bacteremia in select patients. Clinicians in Japan should be aware of the prevalence of SL and the complications of SL bacteremia.
