Prevalence of Severe Bacterial Infection in Febrile Children with Sickle CELL Disease in the Era of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 13

Introduction

The incidence of invasive pneumococcal infections in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) decreased after introduction of penicillin prophylaxis and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). However, the decrease in pneumococcal infections alone may not necessarily mean an overall decrease in severe bacterial infections (SBI). In a previous publication, we reported a 0.4 % prevalence of pneumococcal bacteremia following introduction of PCV 13. In the current study, we aimed to define the prevalence of SBI and hospitalization in febrile patients in the same cohort in the later years.

Methods

We performed a retrospective study of patients with SCD <18 years old presenting with fever to University of South Alabama Children's and Women's Hospital from January 2014 to June 2017. SBI was defined as: bacteremia, pneumonia, pyelonephritis, meningitis, osteomyelitis and abscess (superficial and deep). Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine factors associated with patient disposition as well as presence of SBI.

Results

There were 258 febrile events in 120 patients resulting in 187 (72%) admissions (figure 1). SBI was seen in 12% of admissions with uncomplicated community acquired pneumonia being the most common. The prevalence of bacteremia was 1.6% with single cases of pneumococcus, E. coli, and H. influenzae bacteremia. Younger age, high fever, and splenectomy were associated with hospitalization (p<0.05). However, only C reactive protein was associated with SBI (p<0.02). Viral infection was diagnosed in 80% of outpatients but 87% were given antibiotics. Among inpatients, all received parenteral antibiotics, and 67% were assessed to have viral illness, although only 23% had a virus identified. Pneumococcal vaccination status was satisfactory in 77% of our sample while compliance rate with penicillin prophylaxis was >85% in both inpatient and outpatient groups.

Conclusion

Although majority of febrile events were due to viral infections, 3 of four febrile episodes in our cohort resulted in hospitalization. A small proportion of patients had SBI and a much smaller proportion had bacteremia. These findings support early virus identification which can have implications on patient discharge disposition and antibiotic use. Further studies looking at risk stratification of febrile patients with SCD are needed to encourage outpatient management without compromising safety.

Figure 1.

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Figure 1.

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