A systematic review and meta-analysis show a decreasing prevalence of post-stroke infections
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC Neurology
Abstract
Background Infection is a common complication in the acute phase after stroke; a systematic review in 2011
reported a post-stroke infection prevalence of 30%. Despite the plethora of primary data on post-stroke infections
in recent times, a systematic review that synthesizes the data to provide comprehensive information to guide
preventive, control, and management efforts is yet to be undertaken. This systematic review, therefore, aimed at
bridging this gap by describing the epidemiology of post-stroke infections including the global prevalence and the
associated mortality rates.
Methodology A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science resulting in 2210
studies, of which 73 studies covering 32,109,574 stoke patients were included in the systematic review. Prevalence
data on defined post-stroke infections were extracted for analysis in RStudio version 4.3.3.
Results The pooled prevalence of post-stroke infections and mortality rates were 9.14% and 15.91% respectively.
The prevalence of post-stroke infections was highest for pneumonia (12.4%), followed by urinary tract infection
(8.31%). Geographically, the prevalence of post-stroke infections for the various continents were Europe (10.41%),
Africa (10.22%), South America (8.83%), North America (8.15%), Asia (8.09%), and Australia (7.88%). Common
etiological agents of post-stroke infections included multidrug-resistant organisms particularly, Carbapenem-resistant
Klebsiella pneumoniae (15.4-31.8%), Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (9.8-15.4%), and Carbapenem-resistant
Acinetobacter baumannii (38.5%).
Conclusion This systematic review indicates about a 3-fold decline in the global prevalence of post-stroke infections
in the last decade. Pneumonia is the most common post-stroke infection. Europe and Africa have the highest
prevalence of post-stroke infections.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Post-stroke infections, Pneumonia, Epidemiology