Bacteremia is one of the major concerns in the treatment of pediatric cancer patients. This study was to determine the etiologic agents and the pattern of antibiotic susceptibilities in a single tertiary medical center.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of the cases of bacteremia in pediatric cancer patients from 1998 to 2005 in Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center.

There were 62 cases of bacteremia from 44 patients. Gram-positive organisms(48.3℅) were more common than gram-negative organisms(38.7℅) or fungi(13℅). Among gram-positive organisms, Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common etiologic agent(63.3℅), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (16.7℅), α-hemolytic Streptococcus (16.7℅), and Streptococcus mitis (3.3℅). Among gram-negative organisms, Alcaligenes xylosoxidans was the most common agent(41.7℅) and the other organisms were Klebsiella pneumoniae (20.8℅), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (12.5℅), Acinetobacter baumanii (8.2℅), etc. In febrile neutropenic patients, however, K. pneumoniae was the most common cause of gram-negative bacteremia. All of the isolated K. pneumoniae in our center produced extended-spectrum beta-lactamase and were related with high mortality. S. aureus , S. epidermidis , and Streptococcus species were all susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Most staphylococci were resistant to penicillin and oxacillin. Most of the gram-negative organisms were susceptible to imipenem.

Gram-positive organisms were more commonly isolated than gram-negative organisms in pediatric cancer patients like other studies. We could obtained valuable information on the choice of proper antibiotics in our institution. Further studies will be needed to explain the prevalence of A. xylosoxidans in our center.