Infection in cancer patient with febrile neutropenia: epidemiology, microbiology and management
Abstract Febrile neutropenia (FN) is characterised by a decrease in neutrophils number to values below 500 cells/ mm3 and an occurrence of fever higher or similar to 38.3ºC. It commonly occurs in cancer patients as a result of chemotherapy regimens. Chemotherapy destroys carcinogenic cells but also attacks in many cases some normal cells including essential elements of the immune system. Fever is one of the characteristic symptoms of FN and is usually associated with the presence of an infection caused by various microorganisms. Bacteria, including Gram-positive isolates (currently dominating) and Gram-negative species (dominant in the 1970s), are usually ...
