Faculty Collaboration Database

Risk of Bacteremia in Febrile Children and Young Adults With Sickle Cell Disease in a Multicenter Emergency Department Cohort. JAMA Netw Open 2023 Jun 01;6(6):e2318904

Date

06/20/2023

Pubmed ID

37338904

Pubmed Central ID

PMC10282882

DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.18904

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85163514771 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   3 Citations

Abstract

IMPORTANCE: Bacteremia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children and young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD), but among those presenting to the emergency department (ED) with fever, the absolute risk of, risk factors associated with, and outcomes of bacteremia are poorly defined.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain contemporary data on the absolute risk of, risk factors associated with, and outcomes associated with bacteremia in children and young adults with SCD presenting to the ED with fever.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted of individuals with SCD younger than 22 years (young adults) presenting to EDs within the Pediatric Health Information Systems database from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2021, with fever (identified by diagnostic codes for fever or the collection of blood samples for cultures and intravenous antibiotic administration). Data analysis was performed from May 17 to December 15, 2022.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The risk of bacteremia (defined by diagnostic coding) was identified in these children and young adults, and univariate analyses and multivariable regression were used to examine patient-level factors and bacteremia.

RESULTS: A total of 35 548 encounters representing 11 181 individual patients from 36 hospitals were evaluated. The median age of the cohort was 6.17 (IQR, 2.36-12.11) years and 52.9% were male. Bacteremia was present in 405 encounters (1.1%, 95% CI, 1.05%-1.26%). A history of bacteremia, osteomyelitis, stroke, central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), central venous catheter, or apheresis was associated with the diagnosis of bacteremia, while age, sex, hemoglobin SC genotype, and race and ethnicity were not. In the multivariable analysis, individuals with a history of bacteremia (odds ratio [OR], 1.36; 95% CI, 1.01-1.83), CLABSI (OR, 6.39; 95% CI, 3.02-13.52), and apheresis (OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.22-2.55) had higher odds of bacteremia.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The findings of this large cohort study suggest that bacteremia in children and young adults with SCD presenting with fever is rare. A history of invasive bacterial infection, CLABSI, or a central line appears to be associated with bacteremia, while age and SCD genotype are not.

Author List

Rineer S, Walsh PS, Smart LR, Harun N, Schnadower D, Lipshaw MJ

Author

Patrick S. Walsh MD Assistant Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Anemia, Sickle Cell
Bacteremia
Child
Child, Preschool
Cohort Studies
Emergency Service, Hospital
Female
Fever
Humans
Male
Retrospective Studies
Young Adult