The late phase of sepsis is characterized by an increased microbiological burden and death rate

Table 3 Epidemiology of isolated microorganisms

microorganisms	phase 0	phase I	phase II	phase III
number of positive bc without CNS, #	26	143	56	90
typically opportunistic bacteria (TOB), % (#)	7.7 (2)	9.1 (13)	14.3 (8)	17.8 (16)*
Candida spp. overall, % (#)	7.7 (2)	12.6 (18)	35.7 (19)§	30 (27)§
pathogenic bacteria, % (#)	88.5 (23)	78.3 (112)	51.8 (29)	52.2 (47)
CNS ssp. overall, #	28	52	53	78

Isolated microorganisms from blood cultures of patients with severe sepsis or septic shock are demonstrated. The absolute as well as relative numbers are given in dependency of defined phases. Others include all other isolated pathogen and presented separately in the online supplement (Additional file 1: Table S1). CNS are also presented but excluded from relative analyses. CNS, Coagulase negative staphylococci; bc, blood cultures; *, indicates statistically significant difference compared to phase I (P ≤ 0.05; χ² test); §, indicates statistically significant difference compared to phase 0 and phase I (P ≤ 0.05; χ² test).

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