title: [Prevention of severe infections in patients with hyposplenism or asplenia].
abstract: Each year, up to a 1000 splenectomies are performed in the Netherlands. Aside from patients without a spleen, there is also a large group of patients with hyposplenism or functional asplenia due to other primary diseases. All these patients are at risk of developing severe infections, such as post-splenectomy sepsis (PSS), which is associated with very high mortality. However PSS can partly be prevented by taking simple measures such as immunizations and prophylactic or early use of antibiotics. Healthcare professionals in first and secondary care in the Netherlands are generally not well informed about which preventive measures should be taken to prevent these infections, resulting in often suboptimal management of patients. In this article, recommendations are given on vaccination and administration of antibiotics to prevent severe infections such as PSS in this group of patients.
authors.affiliation: Academisch Medisch Centrum, afd. Inwendige Geneeskunde, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. a.j.lammers@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: A J Jolanda
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Lammers
authors.forename: Nicoline  A T
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: van der Maas
authors.forename: Edgar J G
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Aafke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meerveld-Eggink
authors.forename: E A M Lieke
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.forename: Frank P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Kroon
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D009426:Netherlands; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D018805:Sepsis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013154:Spleen / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery; D013156:Splenectomy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D013158:Splenic Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents