Candida spp. Deep Sternal Wound Infections: A Consequence of Antibiotic use?

Thomas McNeil; Joanna Coats; Santhosh Daniel; David Gordon

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofae157

Candida spp. Deep Sternal Wound Infections: A Consequence of Antibiotic use?

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2024 Apr 1;11(4):ofae157. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofae157. eCollection 2024 Apr.

Authors

Thomas McNeil^{1

2}, Joanna Coats³, Santhosh Daniel^{1

2}, David Gordon^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
² College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
³ Infection Prevention and Control Unit, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁴ Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, SA Pathology, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

Abstract

A cluster of deep sternal wound infections caused by Candida spp. occurred at our institution. Investigation did not disclose a common environmental source. We postulate that broad-spectrum antibiotic surgical prophylaxis and liberal use of antibiotics contributed to these infections.

Keywords: antibiotic prophylaxis; antimicrobial stewardship; candida; mediastinitis; sternal infection.