The clinical, microbiological, and pathological observation on 32 patients with, staphylococcus aureus bacteremia recognized at National Medical Center from January 1961 to June 1974 were performed and the following results were obtained.
1) Of the 32 cases, 23 were female and 9 were male. The most common ages of the patients ranged from 21 to 30 years. The over-all mortality rate was 59.4%.
2) The most frequent cause of infection was artificial abortion which was identified in 22 cases (68.7%).
3) Of the 22 associated illnesses with staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (32 cases), cardiovascular disease (8 cases) was the most frequent. The presence of associated illnesses influenced individual prognosis, as evidenced by higher mortality rate (68.2%) in these patients, than in patients without associated diseases (40%).
4) Many strains of staphylococcus aureus were found to be moderately resistant to chloramphenicol, highly resistant to penicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, and sulfonamide. No Methicillin-resistant strain of staphylococcus aureus was isolated.
5) The prognosis was poor especially in patients complicated by acute bacterial endocarditis, bacterial meningitis, disseminated intravascular coagulation, renal insufficiency, and shock.
6) Postmortem examinations were performed in 7 expired cases and the most prominent pathological findings were bacterial endocarditis (6 cases) with tricuspid vegetation (3 cases).
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