title: Efficacy and safety of meropenem as an empirical treatment for febrile neutropenia in children with cancer.
abstract: Meropenem is a promising carbapenem antibiotic as an empirical monotherapy in patients with febrile neutropenia (FN). With the limited data of the therapy in pediatric patients, the authors conducted this study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of meropenem as empirical antibiotic therapy in 30 pediatric cancer patients with FN (mean age = 7.5 years), who were admitted to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital from May 2000 to December 2001. Meropenem 60 mg/kg/day was given intravenously every 8 hours. The efficacy of meropenem was assessed as successful, inconclusive and failure on days 3 and 5 of the therapy and compared to that of other empirical antibiotics used from January 1997 to April 2000. The study showed that six blood culture specimens (20%) grew organisms, half of which were considered to be contaminants, and six urine culture specimens (20%) grew gram negative rod bacteria. On day 3 and 5 of the therapy, the success rate of meropenem was higher than that of comparatives (30.0% vs 17.6% on day 3, 50.0% vs 39.3% on day 5). The use of meropenem appeared safe, with minimal side effects. In conclusion, the present study showed that meropenem was safe and tolerable in children. The efficacy as an empirical monotherapy in pediatric cancer patients with FN was satisfactory, with a failure rate of 23.3 per cent on day 5 of treatment.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Disease Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Chitsanu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pancharoen
authors.forename: Jutarat
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mekmullica
authors.forename: Jiranun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buranachonapa
authors.forename: Duangjai
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trongjit
authors.forename: Issarang
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nuchprayoon
authors.forename: Preeda
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vanichsetakul
authors.forename: Panya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Seksarn
authors.forename: Usa
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Thisyakorn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000077731:Meropenem; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D013845:Thienamycins / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D013845:Thienamycins; D000077731:Meropenem