title: Four cases of bacteraemia caused by Fusobacterium nucleatum in febrile, neutropenic patients.
abstract: Although bacteraemia caused by obligate anaerobic bacteria is a rare event, this phenomenon will be an emerging problem among oncohaematological patients. We report four cases of bacteraemia caused by Fusobacterium nucleatum in febrile, neutropenic patients over a 10 month period. All patients had haematological malignancy and severe neutropenia, and three of them suffered from oral mucositis or oedema of the oral mucosal surfaces, which was the probable portal of entry. All isolated strains were susceptible to standard anti-anaerobic antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Terhes
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Klára
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Piukovics
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Edit
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Urbán
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nagy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology*; D005674:Fusobacterium Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D016967:Fusobacterium nucleatum; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents