Abstract:
Purpose
This study aimed at identifying the patient characteristics of children with febrile neutropenia, the
associated bacterial organisms, and their sensitivity patterns.
Methods
A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at the MTRH, paediatric oncology ward, from June
2021 to April 2022. A total of 110 children who developed fever and neutropenia while on chemotherapy
were enrolled. Blood samples for culture were drawn aseptically. Patient characteristics were presented in
frequency tables. Antimicrobial sensitivity patterns were plotted in tables against the bacterial isolates
cultured. Chi-square/Fischer’s exact test were used to determine any association between patient
characteristics, bacterial growth and antimicrobial sensitivity.
Results
Majority 66 (60%) were males. The median age was 6.3 (SD 3.7) years. Majority of the patients 71
(64.5%) had haematological malignancies, the most common being Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML).
There was a signi¦cant association between severity of neutropenia and haematological malignancies p
= 0.028. In total, 31/110 (28.2%) blood cultures were positive for bacterial growth. Gram-positive bacteria
were more frequent at 20 (58.1%). The most common organism was Escherichia coli 6 (18.2%), followed
by Staphylococcus aureus at 5 (15.2%.) All the isolates were sensitive to linezolid and vancomycin and
also showed good sensitivity towards meropenem at 10/11 (90.9%). High resistance to cephalosporins
was noted with ceftriaxone at 5/6 (83.3%), cefepime at 4/7 (57.1%) and ceftazidime at 3/4 (75%).
Conclusion
The most common malignancy associated with febrile neutropenia was AML. Gram-positive bacteria
were the most common isolates. There was high resistance towards cephalosporins but all were sensitive
to linezolid and vancomycin.
