Maria E Santolaya, Ana M Alvarez, Carmen L Aviles, Ana Becker, Alejandra King, Claudio Mosso, Miguel O'Ryan, Ernesto Paya, Carmen Salgado, Pamela Silva, Santiago Topelberg, Juan Tordecilla, Monica Varas, Milena Villarroel, Tamara Viviani, Marcela Zubieta
BACKGROUND: Severe sepsis is not clinically apparent during the first 24 hours of hospitalization in most children with cancer and febrile neutropenia (FN), delaying targeted interventions that could impact mortality. The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate biomarkers obtained within 24 hours of hospitalization as predictors of severe sepsis before it becomes clinically evident. METHODS: Children with cancer, admitted with FN at high risk for an invasive bacterial infection in 6 public hospitals in Santiago, Chile, were monitored throughout their clinical course for occurrence of severe sepsis...
June 2008: Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal