When infectious disease specialists help oversee the care of patients with bloodstream infections caused by the candida fungus, death rates can drop by up to 20 percent, according to a study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis analyzed data from 1,691 patients with candida bloodstream infections. The patients were treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis from 2002 to 2015.
They found 45.9 percent of the physicians with primarily responsibile for the patients consulted with infectious disease specialists. About 28 percent of those who were treated with the help of an infectious disease specialist died, but that number jumped to 50.5 percent among patients who were not evaluated by an infectious disease specialist.
After correcting for risk factors, researchers found that consulting with an infectious disease specialist could result in a 20 percent lower risk of death.
Infectious disease specialists were more likely to prescribe antifungal medications, check for serious complications and remove central line catheters, all of which helped improve care for the patient.
"Even uncomplicated versions of these [candida bloodstream] infections are actually quite dangerous and require a detailed and well-thought out approach to make sure that people do well. Infectious disease doctors are the ones who have the expertise to best treat these infections," said Andrej Spec, MD, senior study author, associate director of the university's infectious diseases clinical research unit and director of the university's invasive fungal infections clinic.