Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of rapidly identifying coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) from positive blood cultures combined with an established antimicrobial stewardship (AS) programme at a tertiary cancer centre. METHODS: We compared cancer patients ≥18 years old who between 01/1/13 and 12/31/13 had one or more positive CoNS blood culture(s) identified by Staphylococcus QuickFISH® (a peptide nucleic acid fluorescence in situ hybridization assay) with cancer patients ≥18 years old who had CoNS identified by standard microbiological techniques between 01/01/11 and 12/31/11 (baseline). Positive blood culture results were reported to the clinician by microbiology staff; restricted antibiotics (e.g., vancomycin) required approval by the AS team. RESULTS: There were 196 baseline and 103 QuickFISH patients. Faster median time to organism identification (33 (IQR 27-46) versus 49 (IQR 39-63) hours, p < 0.001), more vancomycin avoidance (51/103 (50%) versus 60/196 (31%), p 0.002), shorter median antibiotic duration (1 (IQR 0-3) versus 2 (IQR 0-6) days, p 0.019), fewer central venous catheter (CVC) removals (14/78 (18%) versus 57/160 (36%), p 0.004), and reduced vancomycin level monitoring (16/52 (31%) versus 71/136 (52%), p 0.009) were observed in the QuickFISH group. QuickFISH implementation was predictive of a lower likelihood of antibiotic therapy prescription (OR 0.35, 95%CI 0.20-0.62, p < 0.001). Prior transplant (RR 1.47, 95%CI 1.13-1.92, p 0.004), neutropenia (RR 1.47, 95%CI 1.09-1.99, p 0.012), multiple positive blood cultures (RR 4.23, 95%CI 3.23-5.54, p < 0.001), and CVC (RR 1.60, 95%CI 1.02-2.53, p 0.043) were independent factors for antibiotic duration. CONCLUSIONS: QuickFISH implementation plus AS support leads to greater avoidance of vancomycin therapy and improved resource utilization in cancer patients with CoNS blood cultures.