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Bacteremia (also bacteraemia) is the presence of bacteria in the blood. Blood is normally a sterile environment, so the detection of bacteria in the blood (most commonly accomplished by blood cultures) is always abnormal. Bacteria can enter the bloodstream as a severe complication of infections (like pneumonia or meningitis), during surgery (especially when involving mucous membranes such as the gastrointestinal tract), or due to catheters and other foreign bodies entering the arteries or veins (including during intravenous drug abuse). Bacteremia can have several consequences. The immune response to the bacteria can cause sepsis and septic shock, which has a relatively high mortality rate. Bacteria can also use the blood to spread to other parts of the body (which is called hematogenous spread), causing infections away from the original site of infection. Examples include endocarditis or osteomyelitis. Treatment is with antibiotics, and prevention with antibiotic prophylaxis can be given in situations where problems are to be expected. ==Definition== Bacteremia is the presence of viable bacteria in the blood stream. Bacteremia is different from sepsis (so-called blood poisoning or toxemia), which is a condition where bacteremia is associated with an inflammatory response from the body (causing systemic inflammatory response syndrome, characterised by rapid breathing, low blood pressure, fever, etc.). Common oral hygiene, such as brushing teeth or flossing, can cause transient but harmless bacteremia. Some patients with prosthetic heart valves however need antibiotic prophylaxis for dental surgery because bacteremia might lead to endocarditis (infection causing inflammation of the interior lining of the heart). "Septicemia" is an ill-defined non-scientific term introducing more confusion between sepsis and bacteremia: it misleadingly suggests there is something in the bloodstream causing sepsis. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bacteremia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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