Original Article
Open Access
Xiuding Zhang, Haoda Weng, Qinzhi Deng, Min Deng, Xuwei Wu, Zuxiong Huang, Shourong Liu, Rui Wu, Chunlian Ma, Yao Xu, Jianfeng Zhong, Jie Yang, Yinxia Wu, Huajiang Shen, Feng Ding, Fang Wang, Xuezhen Zhai, Chunxian Peng, Haotang Ren, Jie Jin, Xiangfei Xu, Xiaofei Li, Xiaoting Ye, Guoqing Qian, Shuilin Sun, Xuebing Yao, Haifeng Miao, Qianggu Xiao, Shaoheng Ye, Qing Zhang, Xinyi Xu, Xia Yu, Yue Yu, Yan Lan, Huilan Tu, Xianbin Xu, Xinrong Zhang, Rui Huang, Xiaohan Qian, Qiao Yang, Jifang Sheng, Yu Shi
Published online July 3, 2025
Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology.
doi:10.14218/JCTH.2025.00211
Abstract
Epidemiological data on bacterial infections in cirrhosis in China remain limited. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a multicenter study to investigate the characteristics and outcomes
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Epidemiological data on bacterial infections in cirrhosis in China remain limited. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a multicenter study to investigate the characteristics and outcomes of patients with cirrhosis and bacterial infections in China.
We retrospectively enrolled 1,438 hospitalized adult patients with cirrhosis and bacterial or fungal infections from 24 hospitals across China between January 2018 and September 2024. Data on demographics, clinical features, microbiology, treatment, and outcomes were collected.
A total of 1,783 infection episodes were recorded, including 1,668 first infections and 115 second infections. Most infections were community-acquired (86.6%). Pneumonia was the most common infection type (26.7%), followed by spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (19.5%) and spontaneous bacteremia (14.1%). Among 754 pathogens isolated from 620 patients, Klebsiella pneumoniae (20.1%) was nearly as common as Escherichia coli (21.7%). Multidrug-resistant (MDR) organisms accounted for 41.0% of all isolates, with extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli being the most prevalent MDR strain (8.9% of patients). Adherence to empirical antibiotic treatment guidelines from the European Association for the Study of the Liver was significantly lower in this cohort compared to the global study (21.5% vs. 61.2%, P < 0.001), accompanied by a lower clinical resolution rate (63.5% vs. 79.8%, P < 0.001).
The clinical and microbiological characteristics of bacterial infections in patients with cirrhosis in China differ substantially from those reported in other regions. These findings highlight the need for region-specific management and prevention strategies, particularly in light of the changing microbiological landscape, high MDR prevalence, and suboptimal antibiotic practices.
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