Common Bacteria, Infection Area and Appropriate Treatment in Hospitalized Addicts

Background:
The use of narcotics leads to immunodeficiency and infection these patients. Hence, recognition of common germs and appropriate antibiotics is of special importance.

Methods:
This cross-sectional study was performed among all patients hospitalized within 2002-2005, in the ward of infectious diseases, in Alzahra hospital. First, the patients were divided into 4 groups of skin, limb, heart and lung involvement, then microbial culture was obtained and type of bacterium and effective drug.

Findings:
Overall, 493 patients with a mean age of 27.75 years, and a minimum of 15 years. The mumber of deaths was 59 (11.96), of which, more than half have been affected by infective endocarditis. The most common complication (58.6%) was related to injection site complications. The lung was second (19%) followed by cardiac involvement equivalent to 13.8%. 60% of existing scopes were on tricuspid valve.
The most common bacterium, staphylococcus aureus was obtained at a rate of 82.8% from these patients, which responded mostly to cefazolin and gentamicin. The need for vancomycin was present in 2% of patients, which were all hospitalized in the last year of the study (2005), and cefepime was used in only one case.


Conclusion:
Considering that the most common bacterium was Staphylococcus aureus, whith a remarkable majority of patients has given appropriate response to simple and inexpensive drugs cefazolin, gentamicin, ceftriaxone and cloxacillin which are first line of treatment against this bacterium, therefore vancomilyn should be kept for special cases.

Key words:
Intravenous drug user, taphylococcus aureus, cefazoline, vancomycin, empirical therapy