Enterococcus bacteria are a type of bacteria that live inside our intestines. Sometimes, they can make us sick with infections in different parts of our body, like the bladder, heart, stomach, and blood. In the UK, more and more people have been getting blood infections because of these Enterococcus bacteria. In 2021, about 16 out of every 100,000 people got these infections, compared to 9 out of 100,000 people in 2012.
Some researchers have done some studies and found that if you have a blood infection with Enterococcus bacteria, it might mean you could have a hidden problem like colorectal cancer. But they’re not entirely sure about this because these infections don’t happen very often. If we can prove this connection, it would be great help to patients. We could then make sure that people with Enterococcus blood infections get the right tests for colorectal cancer and follow-up care.
To figure this out, we are going to use information from a large database called the Infections in Oxfordshire Research Database (IORD). We want to see if the chance of getting colorectal cancer is higher for people who had Enterococcus blood infections compared to those who had infections caused by other bacteria or even people who had their blood tested but no bacteria were found. Once we know more, we can decide if it’s a good idea to suggest more routine medical testing for colorectal cancer for patients who have Enterococcus blood infections.