Endogenous bacteriophages in intensive care patients with bacteremia and sepsis

Abstract

Aim. To study the effect of endogenous bacteriophages on the outcome of infectious and inflammatory diseases in intensive care patients.Materials and methods. 30 patients with positive hemoculture were examined for the presence of bacteriophages. The detection of endogenous bacteriophages in the blood of patients was made using traditional virological methods. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistica 10 program.Results. The bacteriophages were found in the blood of 11 patients, 5 of them were examined in dynamics15 strains of microorganisms were isolated. The mortality rate of patients in the phagopositive group was 18.2 %. 19 patients had no endogenous bacteriophages. In this group, the mortality rate was 68.4 %, that is significantly higher than in patients with endogenous phages. K. pneumonia was are the main causative agent of bacteremia and sepsis (12 strains out of 36).Conclusions. Fatal outcomes were more often detected in patients whose endogenous bacteriophages were not detected in the blood. The most serious complications with frequent fatal outcomes were observed in patients with bacteremia caused by K. pneumonia.