[Infections in patients with febrile neutropenia at a third-level comprehensive care center in Cali, Colombia]

Neutropenia has been recognized for many decades as the most important determinant of infection risk in cancer patients. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical and demographic characteristics, type of microbiological isolates, and resistance to antimicrobials of patients with hemato-oncological neoplasms who experienced febrile neutropenia as a complication in a third-level clinic in the city of Cali. A single-center retrospective descriptive study was conducted. Data were retrieved from the medical records of cancer patients who developed post-chemotherapy febrile neutropenia between January 2014 and December 2021. Ninety-six patients were included in the study. An infectious focus was documented in 41% of the cases, with more than one microbiological isolate identified in 2.5%. Gram-negative bacilli predominated, and were isolated in 84.6% of cases. Regarding resistance mechanisms determined phenotypically in E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, ESBL resistance was found in 28.6% and 30% of cases, respectively, and KPC-type carbapenemases in 2.6% of the isolates. Infection-associated mortality was 9.3%. The infectious focus is likely to go undocumented In patients with febrile neutropenia, and infection-associated mortality is low.