Bacteremia in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Bacteremia is one of the important complications of the treatment of hematological malignancy. In this report, we analyze bacteremias in 72 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who were admitted to our hospital from July 1, 1988 to October 31, 1991. Positive blood cultures were found in 26% (19/72) of the patients. There were 24 episodes of bacteremia; Gram-negative, Gram-positive and mixed bacteremia comprised 62.5% (15/24), 33.3% (8/24) and 4.2% (1/24), respectively. E. coli, klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the three most common pathogens. Eighty-three percent of the bacteremic episodes occurred during neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count below 500/mm3). Our data suggest that a Pseudomonas etiology, associated pneumonia, and shock accounted for a poor outcome. The over-all mortality for bacteremic events was 26.3% (5/19). Intensive supportive treatment and effective antibiotics are the most important factors in improving the outcome of bacteremia. The success in recent ALL treatment can be attributed in part to the improved outcome of bacteremia.