Recurrent Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia: Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis Findings in 29 Patients

To identify risk factors for relapse among 309 prospectively identified cases of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, patients with recurrent S. aureus bacteremia were identified, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed on isolates from both episodes. PFGE banding patterns from both isolates were identical in 23 patients, consistent with relapsed infection. Patients with PFGE-confirmed relapse were more likely by both univariate and multivariate analyses to have an indwelling foreign body (odds ratio [OR] = 18.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.6-43.6; P