Impact of ethnicity and socio-economic status on Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia incidence and mortality: a heavy burden in Indigenous Australians

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Investigations of the impact of ethnicity and socio-economic status on incidence and outcomes of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia are limited. METHODS: We prospectively identified all S. aureus bacteraemia episodes in the Australian New Zealand Cooperative on Outcomes in Staphylococcal Sepsis cohort study between 2007 and 2010. We calculated population level incidence rates using regional postcodes and stratified the analysis by ethnicity, age and socio-economic status indexes. RESULTS: There were 7539 episodes of S. aureus bacteraemia with an annual incidence of 11·2 episodes per 100,000 population. The age-adjusted incidence in the Indigenous population was 62·5 per 100,000 po..