Microbial spectrum of blood and body cultures in febrile episodes of children under chemotherapy for treatment of malignant diseases.

One hundred thirty-five febrile episodes in 111 children with malignancies were reviewed. In 50 of 125 episodes blood cultures were positive; gram-positive bacteremia was detected in 40 episodes and gram-negative bacteremia in 10 episodes. The predominant gram-positive bacteria were coagulase-negative staphylococci, the predominant gram-negative bacteria were Escherichia coli. The possible role of coagulase-negative staphylococci in causing septicemia in immunocompromised hosts is discussed with conclusions that influence designing a primary antibiotic regimen to treat febrile episodes in leukopenic children.