Febrile neutropenia and Fusobacterium bacteremia: clinical experience with 13 cases

To assess the disease spectrum of Fusobacterium bacteremia in our neutropenic patients and review the literature.

This was a 6.5-year retrospective study in which all the records of neutropenic patients with Fusobacterium bacteremia were analyzed.

Fusobacterium bacteremia was found in 13 neutropenic patients, 10 with hematological malignancies and 3 with solid tumors. The standard clinical presentation was that of primary bacteremia with benign evolution under antibiotics with anaerobic coverage. Most patients presented with oral mucositis as the probable portal of entry. Coinfection with other germs was documented in four patients. No patient had a localized infection documented. Most patients were receiving ciprofloxacin chemoprophylaxis. None of the patients had catheter-related infection. All tested strains were susceptible to all standard anaerobic agents. Fusobacterium spp. were responsible for 5% of bacteremias in neutropenic patients in our hospital during the last 6.5 years.

Fusobacterium bacteremia is a possible cause of febrile neutropenia, especially in the setting of quinolone prophylaxis and oral mucositis after intense chemotherapeutic regimens. We think that its benign outcome if there is no localized infection detected does not justify the use of antianaerobic prophylaxis. Combination of beta-lactams and beta-lactamase inhibitors is a safe and reasonable treatment.