چكيده لاتين :
Backgrounds: Neutropenia ca n be associated with lifethreaten
ing infections. Gram negative and staphylococcal infections
are the most common pathoge ns. The spectrum of
bacterial isolates has changed co nsiderably over the past four
decades, The objective of the prese nt study was to evaluate the
pattern of bacterial and funga l infections in neutropenic pediatr
ic patients.
Methods: A non-randomized descriptive and cross-sectional
study invo lving 100 hospit al ized children was carried out at
the emerge ncy and pediatric hematology and oncology units
of hospitals affi liated to Mashhad University of Med ical Sciences
from September 2004 to September 2005 , Neutropenic
children younger than 12 years o ld with clini cal sig ns of infection
and/or feve r were enro lled in the study.
Results: The study co mprised of 100 febrile and/or infected
neutropenic episo des occ urring in 57 male and 43 female children
younger than 12 years old with a mean age of 4.55±3.33
years. A total of 87 pathogens were cultured: 37 (42.5%) from
urinary tract and 50 (57.5%) from other sites; 54 (62. 1%) were
gram-negative bacteria, 2 1 (24 .1%) were gram -pos itive bacteria,
and 12 ( 13 .8%) were fungus. Pseudomonas aerugi nosa
and staphylococc us aureus were the most frequent gramnegat
ive and gram-positive isolates respect ively. Candida sp p.
was the only isolated fungus. Acute lymph oblastic leukemia
was the most common disease encompass ing 33% of all cases.
Conclusion : As the pattern s of isolates in neutropen ic patients
are not the same in different parts of the world and gramnegative
organisms were still the most common pathogens
isolated in our study populat ion, thera peutic adj ustments for
empirica l antib iotic therapy are likely to be focused on gramnegativ
e pathogens.
