Neutropenic fever in patients with Hematologic Malignancies: Microorganisms and antimicrobial susceptibility

Abstract

Background: Neutropenic fever is a life-threatening complication for patients with hematological malignancies during the course of their management. Early and precise detection of causative microorganisms are crucial. The purpose of this study was to identify the spectrum of these microorganisms and antimicrobial susceptibility. Methods: A total of 58 patients with proven hematological malignancies at The Basrah Center for Oncology and Hematology were included. Blood samples were inoculated into bottles of Bract/Alert blood culture system and sent to the reference lab for study. Culture from positive bottles were plated on appropriate media, and incubated at 37°C and 30°C for bacterial and fungal isolation, respectively. A bacterial suspension with turbidity equal to 0.5 McFarland (1.5 × 108 CFU/mL) was prepared and used for the Vitec2 system (bioMerieux). Statistical analysis using SPSS software version 26 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Among 58 patients with approved hematologic malignancies, 29.31% (n:17) samples established positive blood culture. Of them, 9 were gram-negative (15.52%) and 4 were gram-positive bacteria (6.89%), 1 was gram-positive bacillus facultative anaerobe (1.73) and, 3 patients (5.17%) showed fungemia. Conclusion: Thirty-five % of the samples studied were culture-positive. The most frequent microorganisms were gram-positive bacteria. CRP is a useful predictor of mortality for febrile neutropenic patients.