TOPLINE:

Respiratory viral coinfection in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) was associated with a more than fourfold increased risk for bacteremic pneumonia and higher 30‑day mortality rate than that in patients without viral coinfection.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers analyzed data of 420 patients with monomicrobial SAB to assess whether respiratory viral coinfection was associated with adverse clinical outcomes.
• All patients underwent testing for respiratory viruses and the outcomes were compared between patients with coinfection (n = 38; median age, 69 years; 60.5% men) and those without coinfection (n = 382; median age, 67 years; 63.9% men).
• Viral testing was performed from 7 days before to 3 days after the initial positive blood culture, and the 30-day all-cause mortality rate was recorded from the date of the positive blood culture.
• Persistent SAB was defined as a positive S aureus blood culture more than 48 hours after the initial blood culture while the patient was receiving therapy.

TAKEAWAY:

• Patients with vs without respiratory virus coinfection were more likely to have SAB originating from the respiratory tract (bacteremic pneumonia; 21.1% vs 5.2%; P = .002).
• Patients with vs without respiratory virus coinfection were more likely to have persistent SAB (13.2% vs 3.4%; P = .02).
• The 30-day all-cause mortality rate was higher among patients with vs without coinfection (31.6% vs 18.0%; P = .04).

IN PRACTICE:

“Clinical management of patients with SAB and respiratory virus coinfection requires optimisation to improve on current outcomes,” the authors concluded. 

SOURCE:

This study was led by Katherine Roberts, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland. It was published online on March 3, 2026, in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

LIMITATIONS:

The study was conducted at a single center, and only 64.5% of patients underwent clinician‑directed respiratory virus testing, introducing selection bias and limiting generalizability. The number of patients with detected coinfection was small. Important variables — particularly the time to receipt of antimicrobials active against S aureus and predisposing factors for respiratory‑origin SAB — were not captured or controlled for, and a competing risk existed because early deaths may have prevented the detection of persistent bacteremia.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was supported by the Chief Scientist Office, Scotland. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.