TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schöning, Stefan
A1  - Barnbrock, Anke
A1  - Bochennek, Konrad
A1  - Gordon, Kathrin
A1  - Groll, Andreas H.
A1  - Lehrnbecher, Thomas
T1  - Infections during non-neutropenic episodes in pediatric cancer patients - results from a prospective study in two major large European cancer centers
T2  - Antibiotics
N2  - Whereas the clinical approach in pediatric cancer patients with febrile neutropenia is well established, data on non-neutropenic infectious episodes are limited. We therefore prospectively collected over a period of 4 years of data on all infectious complications in children treated for acute lymphoblastic or myeloid leukemia (ALL or AML) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) at two major pediatric cancer centers. Infections were categorized as fever of unknown origin (FUO), and microbiologically or clinically documented infections. A total of 210 patients (median age 6 years; 142 ALL, 23 AML, 38 NHL, 7 leukemia relapse) experienced a total of 776 infectious episodes (571 during neutropenia, 205 without neutropenia). The distribution of FUO, microbiologically and clinically documented infections, did not significantly differ between neutropenic and non-neutropenic episodes. In contrast to neutropenic patients, corticosteroids did not have an impact on the infectious risk in non-neutropenic children. All but one bloodstream infection in non-neutropenic patients were due to Gram-positive pathogens. Three patients died in the context of non-neutropenic infectious episodes (mortality 1.4%). Our results well help to inform clinical practice guidelines in pediatric non-neutropenic cancer patients presenting with fever, in their attempt to safely restrict broad-spectrum antibiotics and improve the quality of life by decreasing hospitalization.
KW  - child
KW  - cancer
KW  - infection
KW  - neutropenia
KW  - non-neutropenic episode
Y1  - 2022
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/62885
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-628854
SN  - 2079-6382
N1  - This study was supported by the Hilfe für krebskranke Kinder Frankfurt e.V.
VL  - 11
IS  - 7, art. 900
SP  - 1
EP  - 8
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  -