Patógenos aislados en hemocultivos de niños con Leucemia Linfática Aguda en el Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas, 2008-2015

Acute Lymphatic Leukemia (ALL) is the most common hematologic malignancy in children. It is characterized by proliferation of immature cells in bone marrow and, in some cases, in peripheral blood. Infection is one of the most common complications in these patients, because they are immunocompromised by the neoplasm and the chemotherapy. This study aimed to identify the most frequent bacterial and fungal pathogens isolated in blood cultures of pediatric patients diagnosed with ALL from the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases (INEN) during the period 2008-2015. From the review of the medical records of these patients, the following bacterial agents were found: Staphylococcus coagulase negative (22,7%), Staphylococcus aureus (16,7%), Escherichia coli (9,3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (9,3%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9,3%), Salmonella sp. (3,3%), Acinetobacter baumannii (2,7%), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (2,7%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (2%), Enterobacter cloacae (2%) and Serratia marcescens (2%) and other minor species. Likewise, three species of fungi of the genus Candida were identified. The age group with the highest number of isolates was made up of patients aged from 0 to 4 years. It was determined that the frequency of Gram positive bacteria was similar to that of Gram negative bacteria, which would indicate that in pediatric patients diagnosed with ALL, bacteremia could be caused either by bacteria or fungi. Empirical antibiotic treatment with broad- spectrum antibiotics are required in these cases.