title: Infections occurring during the courses of anticancer chemotherapy in children with ALL: a retrospective analysis of 59 patients.
abstract: In a retrospective analysis we evaluated the occurrence of infections in 59 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) during the entire duration of their anticancer chemotherapy. We recorded a total of 245 infection episodes, 118 (50%) being during neutropenia and 119 (50%) during nonneutropenia. The infections most commonly detected during neutropenia were fevers of undetermined origin (36%), clinically or microbiologically defined focal infections (33%), and bacteremias (28%). During nonneutropenia, upper respiratory tract infections (55%) were the most common. Patients needed hospitalization for infections for a total of 1951 days (i.e., a mean of 33 days per patient) and the mean number of infection episodes was 4.2 per patient. Recurrent fever developed in 21% of the children with bacteremia. Mortality caused by bacteremias was 10%. Infections during the chemotherapy of ALL were a significant cause of morbidity in children, but mortality was low.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kuopio University Hospital, University of Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rahiala
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perkkiö
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riikonen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000209:etiology; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000139:chemically induced*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005335:Fever of Unknown Origin / Q000209:etiology; D005490:Focal Infection / Q000382:microbiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000209:etiology; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D012008:Recurrence; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000139:chemically induced; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents