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Fever and neutropenia: bacterial etiology revealed by serological methods
Author(s) -
Riikonen P,
Lein M,
Jalanko H,
Hovi L,
Saarinen UM
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1993.tb12696.x
Subject(s) - medicine , etiology , serology , streptococcus pneumoniae , haemophilus influenzae , neutropenia , staphylococcus aureus , fever of unknown origin , bacteremia , immunology , antibody , microbiology and biotechnology , antibiotics , bacteria , biology , genetics , toxicity
In a prospective study, 91 episodes of fever in neutropenic children with cancer were evaluated. Fifteen episodes were septicemias, verified by a positive blood culture, 62 were fevers of unknown origin, 6 were focal infections and 8 were of other etiologies (i.e. drug fevers and viral infections). Serum antibody responses to bacteria were measured in paired sera by an enzyme immunoassay method. Bacterial infection was demonstrated serologically in 20% of documented septicemias, in 35% of fevers of unknown origin and occasionally in the other groups. Tests were available and found positive in the fever of unknown origin group for Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella (Branhamella) catarrhalis and enterobacteria. Some had multiple etiology. In conclusion, bacterial serology is a promising method of identifying bacterial etiology in fever of otherwise unknown origin in neutropenic children with cancer.