Bacteremia in Children
Bacteremia is a condition where bacteria get into the bloodstream. It can cause a wide range of symptoms depending on age and health status. Bacteremia can cause fever, chills, rash, vomiting, and diarrhea in babies and young children.
It can cause more severe symptoms such as sepsis (a life-threatening condition caused by infection). Bacteremia is treated with antibiotics, and most cases resolve without any long-term problems.
Causes of bacteremia in children:
There are many causes of bacteremia in children. The most common reasons are:
• Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• Respiratory infections
• Meningitis
Other, less common causes include:
• Wounds or injuries to the skin, bones, or joints
• Fungal infections of the bloodstream caused by a yeast called Candida. This is more common in children with low white blood cells (due to leukemia, for example) and in children on long-term treatment with medicines that suppress the immune system (such as chemotherapy).
It can also happen when there are high bacteria levels in a part of the body where antibiotics have been used recently. For example, this might be an ear infection treated with ear drops.
• Heart valves infected with bacteria after a heart operation. This usually only happens if a child has additional problems such as a weak immune system
• Septic shock – a life-threatening condition caused by infection
Diagnosis of bacteremia in children:
Bacteremia is diagnosed using a blood culture. First, a small blood sample is taken and sent to the laboratory to be grown in a particular culture dish. If bacteria are found, it confirms that the child has bacteremia.
Treatment of bacteremia in children:
Bacteremia is treated with antibiotics. The type of antibiotic will depend on the cause of the infection—most cases of bacteremia resolve without any long-term problems. However, if there is septic shock, this is a medical emergency, and the child will need intensive treatment in a hospital.
Prevention of bacteremia in children:
Several things can be done to prevent bacteremia in children:
• Wash hands thoroughly and often, especially before eating or touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. This is a critical way to prevent infection.
• Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered until they heal.
• Vaccinate children against common infections such as Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease, and chickenpox.
• If your child is taking antibiotics, make sure they finish all of the prescribed doses. Do not stop antibiotics early unless advised by your healthcare provider.
• If your child is taking long courses of antibiotics, they should be tested for low levels of white blood cells (leukopenia) to check for possible side effects.
Bacterial infection in child symptoms:
There are many symptoms of a bacterial infection in a child. Fever, chills, rash, vomiting, and diarrhea are most common. In older children, sepsis can be a severe complication. However, bacteremia is treated with antibiotics, and most cases resolve without any long-term problems.
Prevention is essential and includes washing hands often, keeping cuts clean, and getting vaccinated. In addition, if your child is taking antibiotics, make sure they finish all of the prescribed doses.
Do not stop antibiotics early unless advised by your healthcare provider. If your child is taking long courses of antibiotics, they should be tested for low levels of white blood cells (leukopenia) to check for possible side effects.
Bacteria cause serious illnesses by invading the body and multiplying. Many bacteria are harmless, but some can cause life-threatening infections. For example, bacteremia is a condition caused by bacteria in the blood. It can be a complication of many different types of diseases and can often lead to sepsis, a severe and life-threatening infection of the entire body.
Bacteremia is diagnosed using a blood culture. A small blood sample is taken and sent to the laboratory to be grown in a particular culture dish. If bacteria are found, it confirms that the child has bacteremia.
Treatment with antibiotics will depend on the cause of the infection. Most resolve without any long-term problems, but if there is septic shock, this is a medical emergency, and the child will need intensive treatment in a hospital.
Preventing bacteremia is essential and includes washing hands often, keeping cuts clean, and getting vaccinated. IIn addition, if your child is taking antibiotics, make sure they finish all of the prescribed doses.
Do not stop antibiotics early unless advised by your healthcare provider. If your child is taking long courses of antibiotics, they should be tested for low levels of white blood cells (leukopenia) to check for possible side effects.
Bacteria cause serious illnesses by invading the body and snowballing. Many bacteria are harmless, but some can cause life-threatening infections. For example, bacteremia is a condition caused by bacteria in the blood.
It can be a complication of many different types of infections and can often lead to sepsis, a severe and life-threatening infection of the entire body. Bacteremia is diagnosed using a blood culture. A small blood sample is taken and sent to the laboratory to be grown in a particular culture dish.
If bacteria are found, it confirms that the child has bacteremia. Treatment with antibiotics will depend on the cause of the infection. Most resolve without any long-term problems, but if there is septic shock, this is a medical emergency, and the child will need intensive treatment in a hospital. Prevention is essential and includes washing hands often, keeping cuts clean, and getting vaccinated.
Pediatric bacteremia guidelines:
A child diagnosed with bacteremia will need a complete blood count (CBC) or other tests to check for anemia or low blood platelets. If there are signs of severe illness, the health care provider might order additional diagnostic tests. These can include:
Diagnosis and treatment of bacteremia:
Bacteremia diagnosis is primarily made through clinical suspicion and by obtaining cultures from normally sterile body fluids such as blood or cerebrospinal fluid. Blood cultures should be obtained in addition to any other infections that may be present, such as meningitis, pneumonia, cellulitis/abscesses, bone fractures, sepsis, peritonitis; all illnesses that may cause bacteremia. Blood cultures may also be performed before and after specific medical or surgical procedures to help determine that the process was not the source of the bacteremia.
Treatment typically involves the use of antibiotics such as clindamycin (Cleocin), vancomycin (Vancocin), and cefotaxime (Claforan). Therapy with these agents is often continued for a duration depending on the severity and site of infection; generally, more severe conditions receive more prolonged treatment.
In addition, the use of blood purification techniques such as hemoperfusion may be considered in cases where sepsis has occurred despite appropriate antibiotic therapy and other conventional methods have failed.
Blood culture collection procedure:
Culture specimens for blood should be collected in a sterile manner. The skin over the venipuncture site is cleaned with an antiseptic solution, such as chlorhexidine (Hibiclens) or povidone-iodine (Betadine). A tourniquet is then applied to the arm to distend the veins, and a needle is inserted into a vein.
The needle is aspirated, and blood is expelled into a culture bottle from the syringe. If the difficulty is encountered in obtaining blood, another site should be selected.
If a patient has a central line, blood cultures should be drawn from each port of the catheter.
Blood infection in child treatment:
Intravenous antibiotics such as ampicillin (Omnipen), cefazolin (Ancef), and clindamycin (Cleocin) are used to treat bacteremia caused by beta-lactamase-producing, Gram-positive organisms. These agents are used until the patient has been afebrile for 48 hours and there is evidence of clinical improvement.
When a child is diagnosed with bacteremia, close monitoring will be necessary to ensure that fever or other signs of infection do not return. Patients taking antibiotics orally may be switched to an oral antibiotic after 5–7 days if they have remained asymptomatic and blood cultures show no growth. Antibiotics should not be stopped earlier in the absence of blood culture results since this may relapse.