All issues > Volume 32(5); 1989

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1989;32(5):659-664. Published online May 31, 1989.

Infections in Childhood Leukemia.

Choong Won Lee¹, Young Sik Kim¹, Byung Kyu Park¹, Soon Ki Kim¹, Il Soo Ha¹, Hoan Jong Lee¹, Hyo Seop Ahn¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Received: November 7, 1988;  Accepted: November 7, 1988.

Abstract

A retrospective study was performed on twenty-nine children, who had experienced infection one or more times, among the thirty-eight children diagnosed as leukemia at the Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Hospital, between January, 1984 and June, 1985, and followed up for more than three years. The results were as follows; 1) The age of patients ranged from I year 5 months to 14 years 7 months and the ratio of male to female was 2.2:1. 2) Of 29 patients, 39 cases of infection occurred and mean duration of infection were 9.6 days. Twenty-six percent occurred during induction, 67% in remission state, and 7% during reinduction. 3) Pneumonia was the most common type of infection, all of which developed during remission period. 4) Sixty-seven percent of total infection accompanied with febrile episode and 38% occurred during granulocytopenic period. 5) The pathogen of infection was confirmed in 13 cases (bacteria 7, virus 5, fungus 1). 6) Of 30 cases treated with antibiotics, 24 cases improved with cephalosporin and aminoglycoside. Six cases expired due to sepsis (3 cases), pneumonia (2 cases) and blast crisis (1 case).

Keywords :Childhood leukemia, Infection