Pneumococcal bacteremia in adults: differences between patients with and without human immunodeficiency virus infection

AbstractObjective: To determine the differences between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and non-HIV-infected patients with pneumococcal bacteremia.Methods: The demographics, clinical findings, and hospital course of 194 adult cases of pneumococcal bacteremia were retrospectively reviewed.Results: All but six patients were African-American and 41 had HIV infection. The HIV-infected patients were younger (37 vs. 51 years, P < 0.0001) and had higher pneumococcal vaccination rate (13% vs. I%, P = 0.0006); 58% of the patients under 40 years of age had HIV infection. The HIV-infected patients had lower leukocyte count and serum albumin and higher arterial pH and oxygenation. The recurrence rate of pneumococcal bacteremia was higher in the HIV-infected patients (8.5% vs 1.8%, P = 0.0565). Chest radiograph findings, disease severity, length of hospital stay, complication, and case fatality rates were similar between the HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected patients.Conclusions: The overall hospital course of HIV-infected patients with pneumococcal bacteremia is similar to that of non-HIV-infected patients, despite some clinical differences