Blood Cultures for Persistent Fever in Neutropenic Pediatric Patients Are of Low Diagnostic Yield

Kari Neemann; Alexandra B Yonts; Fang Qiu; Kari Simonsen; Stefanie Lowas; Alison Freifeld

doi:10.1093/jpids/piu145

Blood Cultures for Persistent Fever in Neutropenic Pediatric Patients Are of Low Diagnostic Yield

J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2016 Jun;5(2):218-21. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piu145. Epub 2015 Feb 4.

Authors

Kari Neemann¹, Alexandra B Yonts², Fang Qiu³, Kari Simonsen¹, Stefanie Lowas⁴, Alison Freifeld⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha.
² Department of Pediatrics, University of California Davis Medical Center.
³ College of Public Health.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha.

PMID: 27199474
DOI: 10.1093/jpids/piu145

Abstract

The incidence of bacteremia at the onset of pediatric febrile neutropenia (FN) at 2 academically linked institutions was 9.84%, and subsequent blood cultures performed for children with persistent FN yielded an incidence of 4.21%. Until the risk factors for new-onset bacteremia in patients being treated for FN can be identified and diagnostic methods can be improved, compliance with national guidelines is recommended.

Keywords: blood culture; febrile neutropenia; pediatric.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Bacteremia / diagnosis*
Blood Culture*
Child
Child, Preschool
Fever / microbiology*
Humans
Infant
Neutropenia / microbiology*
Retrospective Studies