General principles Children with deficient immune mechanisms, immunologic disorders, or those receiving immunosuppressive therapy (e.g., radiation, cytotoxic chemotherapy, antirejection medication, and steroids) are identified as high-risk patients with the greatest…
Antimicrobial stewardship refers to the appropriate selection, dosing, route, and duration of antimicrobial therapy to optimize patient outcomes and minimize toxicity and the development of resistant pathogens. Over the past…
At birth, infants become colonized with trillions of commensal microbes that play important roles in health and disease. The majority of these microbes reside in the gastrointestinal tract, reaching densities…
Vaccination has repeatedly been acknowledged as one of the most important tools for reduction of mortality worldwide and one of the most cost-effective ways to decrease health care–related costs. Immunocompromised…
Chemotherapy agents have been the cornerstone of cancer treatments since the 1960s when the first concerted attempts were made to treat cancer. Although these agents are effective at destroying cancer…
Solid organ transplantation (SOT) has transformed the prognosis of many children with organ failure. An estimated 135,860 SOTs were performed worldwide in 2016. A total of 33,610 SOTs were performed…
Patients who undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are at risk for developing bacterial, fungal, viral, and/or parasitic infections, particularly those who receive allogeneic transplants. Infections in these patients are…
Donors of cells or organs are important potential sources of infection in children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell (HSCT) or solid organ transplantation (SOT). In both settings, the donor may be…
Basic principles of the infectious disease pretransplant evaluation The pretransplant infectious disease evaluation represents the first step in a long continuum of infection prevention that extends into the posttransplant period….
Invasive infections are a common source of morbidity and mortality in children with cancer. The risk for infectious complications during therapy for cancer is inversely related to age: children with…
