European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology
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Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. · Mar 2017
Staphylococcus aureus carriage at admission predicts early-onset pneumonia after burn trauma.
Early-onset pneumonia (EOP) is frequent after burn trauma, increasing morbidity in the critical resuscitation phase, which may preclude early aggressive management of burn wounds. Currently, however, preemptive treatment is not recommended. The aim of this study was to identify predictive factors for EOP that may justify early empirical antibiotic treatment. ⋯ We identified S. aureus carriage as an independent and strong predictor of EOP. As rapid point-of-care testing for S. aureus is readily available, we recommend testing of all patients at admission for burn trauma and the consideration of early preemptive treatment in all positive patients. Further studies are needed to evaluate this new strategy.