Spectrum of Fungal Infection in Pediatric Patients with Febrile Neutropenia

Abstract

Febrile neutropenia (FN) represents a common but potentially lethal complication of chemotherapy in patients with hematological malignances. Several studies have been performed in order to identify the potential risks which provide valuable information to select better intervention for clinical practice. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the frequency of fungal infection in febrile neutropenic patients and importance of galactomannan test in diagnosis of fungal infection. This study was performed at the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit, Children’s hospital, Ain-Shams University in the period from March 2014 to February 2017. It included 60 patients with childhood cancer with febrile neutropenia. All patients in this study were subjected to the following: History including age, sex, date and type of patient `s cancer, Febrile episodes occurring during the previous 6 months of therapy and any bacteriologic or fungal studies recorded, any documented infection, type of chemotherapy administered, drug history of antibiotic or antifungal received,any symptoms suggestive of infection (chest complaint as cough or chest pain, perianal pain or mucositis, retrosternal or epigastric pain).