The Pediatric infectious disease journal
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Sep 2012
Multicenter StudyFrequency and clinical outcome of respiratory viral infections and mixed viral-bacterial infections in children with cancer, fever and neutropenia.
The role of respiratory viral infections (RVIs) as a cause of overall fever and neutropenia (FN) episodes in children with cancer has been less characterized than bacterial infections. We conducted a study aimed to determine the frequency of RVI in children with low compared with high risk for invasive bacterial infection (IBI) FN episodes and compare the clinical outcome of RVI and mixed RV-bacterial infections. ⋯ RVIs were the most frequently detected agents irrespective of their initial risk assessment for IBI. The clinical outcome of mixed RVI was similar to sole RVI episodes as well as for bacterial infections compared with mixed viral-bacterial infections. Systematic and early detection of RVI in children with cancer and FN might help to optimize their management by reducing hospitalization and antimicrobial use.