In the aforementioned studies, inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy was an independent risk factor for mortality in nonurinary tract infections. Accordingly, our study found that inappropriate empirical or definitive therapy was significantly related to the 30-day mortality (by the KaplaneMeier analysis, p < 0.001). Twenty-five (22.5%) patients died within 5 days after bacteremia onset, and 80% of them received inappropriate
empirical therapy. This highlights the importance of initiating early appropriate therapy.