E. coli, S. agalactiae afflict most infants with invasive bacterial infections

From 2006 to 2020, the most common invasive bacterial infections (IBIs) among infants <3 months of age are S. agalactiae, E. coli, and S. aureus, reveals a recent study in Korea. In addition, an increasing trend of S. agalactiae has been seen.

A group of researchers carried out a retrospective multicentre-based surveillance on infants in Korea to analyse changes in the epidemiology of IBI from 2006 to 2020. They classified cases either as an early- (EOD; 0‒6 days) or late-onset disease (LOD; 7‒89 days), as well as analysed the temporal trend change in the proportion of pathogens.

A total of 1,545 cases (median age 28 days) were assessed, of which 17.7 percent accounted for EOD. Among the pathogens (96.7 percent) identified, S. agalactiae (40.4 percent), E. coli (38.5 percent), and S. aureus (17.8 percent) were the most common.

Among children with EOD (n=274), the most common pathogens were S. agalactiae (45.6 percent), S. aureus (31.4 percent), E. coli (17.2 percent), and L. monocytogenes (2.9 percent). Among those with LOD (n=1,274), the most frequent were E. coli (43.1 percent), S. agalactiae (39.3 percent), S. aureus (14.9 percent), and S. pneumoniae (1.3 percent).

Analysis of trends showed that the proportion of S. aureus (r s, ‒0.850; p<0.01) significantly declined, while that of S. agalactiae saw an increase (r s, 0.781; p<0.01).

“IBI causes a significant burden in infants,” the researchers said.