This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Echeverria, P. Articles by Smith, A. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Echeverria, P. Articles by Smith, A. L. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Anaerobic Bacteremia as Observed in a Children's Hospital

Clinically This May Signify True Anaerobic Sepsis

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts

Arnold L. Smith, M.D.

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts

To ascertain the significance of anaerobic bacteremia in a children's hospital, the records of all patients whose blood cultures grew anaerobes during a 24- month period were reviewed. Anaerobes were isolated from 144 out of 1,126 blood cultures yielding bacteria. Anaerobic diphtheroid grew in 122 out of 143 anaerobic cultures, but only 4 out of 122 were isolated from patients with anaerobic sepsis. Nine per cent of the total episodes of anaerobic bacteremia occurred in 13 children who met out criteria for anaerobic sepsis; two or more blood cultures obtained within a three-day period growing anaerobic bacteria, or an aerobe and an anaerobe, in a febrile child or one with an apparent in fectious focus. Bacteroides accounted for 7 out of 13 (64 per cent) of the relevant isolates, while anaerobic diphtheroids 4 out of 13 (26 per cent) and anaerobic gram-positive cocci accounted for the remainder 2 out of 13 (18 per cent).

Only one infant, with polymicrobial bacteremia, died, suggesting that an aerobic bacteremia is associated with less mortality in children than in adults. Anaerobic sepsis occurred in children who have had recent abdominal surgery, or who are immunosuppressed.

Clinical Pediatrics, Vol. 17, No. 9, 688-695 (1978)
DOI: 10.1177/000992287801700904


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I. Brook, W. J. Martin, J. D. Cherry, and C. V. Sumaya Recovery of Anaerobic Bacteria From Pediatric Patients: A One-Year Experience Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, October 1, 1979; 133(10): 1020 - 1024. [Abstract] [PDF]