ABSTRACT Background: Pediatric oncology patients (POP) have a high risk of infections due to impaired immunity. Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) is an important cause of severe infection in these patients and it is associated with high mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence and risk factors associated with IPD at a Pediatric Oncology Center in Brazil. Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study. All IPD cases in children with cancer from 2005 through 2016 were reviewed. Each case of IPD was matched with two controls from a cohort of patients matched for year of IPD, age and disease in order to assess risk factors. The incidence density was calculated as the number of IPD per 100,000 patients-year. Results: A total of 51 episodes of IPD in 49 patients was identified. All pneumococci were isolated from blood cultures. The median age was five years and 67% were male; mortality rate was 7.8%. The IPD incidence density rate in POP was 311.21 per 100,000 patients-year, significantly higher than the rate in the general pediatric population. Severe neutropenia was the only risk factor associated with IPD, after multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: Although pneumococcal disease decreased after the introduction of 10-valent pneumococcal vaccine in the Brazilian national immunization schedule in 2010, there was no decrease in the IPD incidence rate in our cohort. A higher coverage rate of pneumococcal vaccination in children in the general population might be necessary to reduce the incidence rate in this high-risk population.

Abstract In the present study, we report the incidence of septic shock syndrome associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a child who initially presented influenza-like illness and developed septic shock shortly after 48 h of hospitalization, and eventually died within a few hours of the onset of sepsis. S. aureus isolated from the blood culture was characterized as the community-associated strain carrying the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type IV element. Therefore, it is important to better understand the community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections and their potential association with influenza for early diagnosis and successful treatment of this fatal disease.

ABSTRACT Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are serious infections associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Every hour delay in initiation of an effective antibiotic increases mortality due to sepsis by 7%. Turnaround time (TAT) for conventional blood cultures takes 48 h, forcing physicians to streamline therapy by exposing patients to broad-spectrum antimicrobials. Our objective was (1) to evaluate the accuracy and TAT of an optimized workflow combining direct matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and in-house real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for bacterial identification and antimicrobial resistance profiling directly from positive blood bottles for diagnosing bloodstream infections and (2) to verify the effect of reporting results to medical staff. A total of 103 BSI episodes from 91 patients admitted to three hospitals in São Paulo, Brazil were included. TAT from molecular versus conventional methods was measured and compared. Our protocol showed an overall agreement of 93.5% for genus and 78.5% for species identification; 74.2% for methicillin resistance detection, 89.2% for extended-spectrum β-lactamase profiling, 77.8% for metallo-β-lactamase profiling, and 100% for carbapenemase profile and vancomycin-resistance detection when compared with conventional testing. TAT of molecular sample processing according to our protocol was 38 h shorter than conventional methods. Antimicrobial interventions were possible in 27 BSI episodes. Antimicrobial discontinuation was achieved in 12 BSI episodes while escalation of therapy occurred in 15 episodes. Antimicrobial therapy was inadequate in three (12%) BSI episodes diagnosed using results of molecular testing. Our in-house rapid protocol for identifying both bacteria and antimicrobial resistance provided rapid and accurate results, having good agreement with conventional testing results. These results could contribute to faster antimicrobial therapy interventions in BSI episodes.

ABSTRACT Febrile Neutropenia represents a medical emergency and the use of appropriate antimicrobial therapy is essential for a better outcome. Although being time-consuming, conventional cultures and antimicrobial susceptibility tests remain the golden standard practices for microbiology identification. Final reports are typically available within several days. Faster diagnostic tools, such as species identification trough Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) and molecular techniques might help to shorten time to diagnostic and also guide definitive therapy in this scenario. Here we present a case in which the use of a diagnostic molecular workflow combining MALDI-TOF and real-time PCR for relevant genes codifying antibiotic resistant integrated with instant communication report, led to a tailored and more appropriate treatment in a patient presenting with febrile neutropenia.