[Clinical Characteristics, Drug Resistance, and Prognosis Analysis of Enterobacteriaceae Bloodstream Infection in...

To investigate the clinical characteristics, drug resistance and prognosis of Enterobacteriaceae bloodstream infection (BSI) in children with acute leukemia (AL) following chemotherapy.

A retrospective analysis was performed on children with Enterobacteriaceae BSI after AL chemotherapy in four hospitals in Fujian Province from January 2015 to December 2023. The clinical characteristics, drug resistance and prognosis of these children were analyzed.

A total of 140 children were enrolled, including 117 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 23 cases of acute myeloid leukemia. BSI occurred in 52.14% of the children during the induction chemotherapy phase, 35.00% during the intensive chemotherapy phase, and 12.86% during the maintenance chemotherapy phase. All children manifested fever, 81.43% had neutropenia, 21.43% had septic shock, 16.43% had no clear infectious lesions, 83.57% had infectious lesions, and 45.71% had two or more multi-site infections. Among the 140 strains of Enterobacteriaceae bacteria, 50.71% were Klebsiella bacteria, 35.00% were Escherichia bacteria, 10.00% were Enterobacter bacteria, and 4.29% were Salmonella bacteria. The highest proportion of multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) were found in Escherichia (68.89% and 14.89%). Amikacin had the lowest resistance rate among Klebsiella, Escherichia, and Enterobacter. There were no significant differences in pathogen distribution, proportions of MDRB and CRE between the first 4 year group (2015-2018) and the last 5 year group (2019-2023) (P >0.05). There were significant differences in albumin levels, the proportion of anti-infective treatment one week before BSI, proportion of carbapenem anti-infective treatment before BSI, and proportion of deaths between CRE group and non-CRE group (all P <0.05). Among the 140 children, except for 2 children who gave up treatment and the outcomes were unknown, 123 children were cured and 15 children died of BSI. The attributable mortality rate was 10.87% (15/138), and the mortality related to septic shock was 33.33% (10/30). Univariate analysis showed that gender, proportion of septic shock, proportion of CRE strain, albumin level, C-reactive protein (CRP) level and procalcitonin level were significantly different between the cure group and the death group (all P <0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that septic shock, lower albumin level and higher CRP level were independent risk factors for death in children with Enterobacteriaceae BSI.

In children with Enterobacteriaceae BSI following AL chemotherapy, CRE infection is associated with higher mortality. Septic shock, low albumin, and high CRP are independent risk factors for death caused by Enterobacteriaceae BSI.