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The Changing Aetiology of Paediatric Bacteraemia in England and Wales, 1998-2007

¹ Health Protection Agency, Centre for Infections, UK;

² MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, UCL Institute for Child Health, London, UK;

³ St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London, UK

⁴ E-mail: katherine.henderson{at}hpa.org.uk

Received August 14, 2009
Accepted October 8, 2009

Bacteraemia in children is a potentially life threatening condition. The objective of this study was to determine trends in the aetiology of bacteraemia in children aged 1 month - 15 years in England and Wales by collecting data voluntarily reported by National Health Service hospital microbiology laboratories. Over the ten-year period, 1998-2007, a total of 51,788 bacteraemia cases involving 105 genera/species of bacteria were reported. Total annual reports of bacteraemia increased from 4,125 to 6,916, with an average increase of 6.5% per year (95% CI: 1.3%-12.1%). In 2007, just over half the cases were accounted for by four groups of organisms: coagulase-negative staphylococci (28%), Staphylococcus aureus (10%), non-pyogenic streptococci (9%), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (7%). These organisms along with a further 13 species/genera accounted for 90% of the cases. The commonest Gram-negative organisms were Neisseria meningitidis and Escherichia coli which each accounted for 5% of total bacteraemia reports in 2007. There was a significant decrease in reports of bacteraemia due to the three vaccine preventable pathogens, Haemophilus influenzae, N. meningitidis and S. pneumoniae, following the introduction of each vaccine programme or catch-up campaign. This study identifies the commonest causes of bacteraemia in children in England and Wales, and highlights the shifts in trends observed over time.