Bacteria usually found in the oral cavity are often found in brain abscesses with no clear cause, according to a study published in the Journal of Dentistry. Zoe Brookes, PhD, and colleagues examined data from 87 patients admitted to a surgical unit with brain abscesses during a 16-year period. For patients with no primary source of infection identified (NSI; 52 cases), or with an infective source identified (ISI; 35 cases), species of bacteria were categorized using microbiological data. Compared with brain abscesses in
the NSI group, those in the ISI group demonstrated a significantly lower preponderance of oral bacteria. In addition, brain abscesses from the NSI group had significantly higher counts of Streptococcus anginosus compared with those from the ISI group. For both ISI and NSI, brain abscesses were most common in the frontal and parietal lobes. “This present study demonstrates that bacteria usually found in the oral cavity, and associated with oral and dental disease, are also found in brain abscesses and make
up a large proportion of bacterial subgroups in brain abscesses where no definite infective source could be identified,” Dr. Brookes and colleagues wrote.
Bacterial Infection in One of Eight Deaths Worldwide
Bacterial infections are responsible for one in eight deaths worldwide, second only to heart disease as the world’s leading cause of death, according to findings published in The Lancet. Approximately 7.7 million people died in 2019 from an infection with one of 33 common types of bacteria, and more than 75% of bacteria-related deaths came from one of three illnesses: lower respiratory,
bloodstream, or abdominal infections. Additionally, five specific germs Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were implicated in more than one-half the deaths from bacterial infection. The pathogen associated with the most deaths globally 1.1 million was S. aureus, and more deaths were linked to S. aureus and E. coli than HIV/AIDS in 2019. “These new data for the first time reveal the full extent of the global public health challenge posed by bacterial infections,” Christopher Murray, MD, DPhil, said in a news release.
