Photo Credit: toondelamour

The following is a summary of “Current microbiological testing approaches and documented infections at febrile neutropenia onset in patients with hematologic malignancies,” published in the October 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Mariana et al.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to identify an infection etiology in febrile neutropenia (FN), examining various microbiological approaches and the effects on diagnosing infections in individuals with hematologic malignancies and FN.  

They analyzed microbiological testing strategies implemented at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona to diagnose infections in patients with FN between January 2020 and July 2022.  

The results showed that 4,520 microbiological tests were ordered across 462 FN episodes, with a test positivity rate of 10% and microbial evidence of infection in 200 episodes (43.3%). Blood cultures (40.4%), non-culture blood tests (21.2%), and respiratory samples (16.2%) were most frequently ordered. Blood cultures had the highest positivity rate (16.9%), while non-culture tests had the lowest (3.3%). Bacterial infections were found in 149 episodes (32.3%), and viral infections, particularly respiratory viruses, occurred in 66 episodes (14.3%). The 60-day mortality rate was 9.1%, with a higher risk (15%) linked to documented infections.  

Investigators concluded that the study revealed a high rate of microbiologically documented infections at FN onset, highlighting the prevalence of bacterial and viral infections, particularly respiratory viruses and highlights the need for optimized management of FN during respiratory viral infections and the importance of cost-effective diagnostic stewardship. 

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971224002546