A survey of the use of low microbial diets in pediatric bone marrow transplant programs.
A survey was used to determine the use of low microbial diets for pediatric bone marrow transplantation patients at hospitals in Canada and the northwestern United States. Five out of 7 hospitals responding to the survey provided a low microbial diet to this population to reduce the potential risk posed by food pathogens. Two hospitals prepared their low microbial diet in a separate kitchen using aseptic techniques. One hospital provided a diet consisting of well-cooked foods or foods containing a minimum number of pathogen-forming units. Another hospital focused on safe food-handling guidelines, avoiding foods associated with foodborne illness. A final hospital reported using a modified house diet that excluded fresh fruits and vegetables. Various guidelines were used to determine when to initiate and discontinue the low microbial diet. These guidelines included criteria such as a specific day relative to transplantation and a patient's absolute neutrophil count. Results indicate that most hospitals acknowledge the potential for food to cause infection in patients with compromised immune systems by imposing dietary restrictions to limit pathogen exposure.
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Osteoporosis Research Program, Sunnybrook and Women's College of Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Levy-Milne
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D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004045:Dietary Services; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005521:Food Service, Hospital; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host / Q000276:immunology*; D009504:Neutrophils; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012308:Risk Management; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors