Bloodstream Infections

Smith, T. L., Pullen, G. T., Crousc, V., Rosenberg, J., Jarvis, W. R. (2002). Bloodstream infections in pediatric oncology outpatients: A new healthcare systems challenge. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 23, 239-243.

This study was carried out to determine the rates and causes of bloodstream infections (BSIs) in pediatric oncology outpatients with central venous catheters (CVCs). It was done partially prospectively, by studying all children with CVC-associated BSIs cared for in a pediatric hematology-oncology clinic over the one year period, using as controls patients who had CVCs but no BSIs during the prospective period of the study, and retrospectively through examining the records of pediatric hematology-oncology patients with CVCs with or without BSIs in the preceding two years at the same hospital. BSIs were defined as a positive blood culture for a CVC patient without any localized infection. The study was carried out at Fresno Children's Hospital from November 1994 to October 1996. All the patients were outpatients, being cared for at home by their families.

The rationale for the study was that BSIs contribute significantly to the morbidity and mortality and CVC use causes an increase in BSIs. Over the past decade, the increasing use of CVCS has been thought to be responsible for a 70 percent increase in BSIs. The study was initiated because the hematology-oncology staff at

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Category: Medical - B