Gram-positive bacteremia in febrile children under two years of age in babylon province

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate gram-positive bacteremia in febrile children according to some risk factors and to detect the type causative bacteria. One hundred sixty blood samples were collected from children under 2 years who were suffering from fever and admitted to emergency department of Babylon Maternity and Children Hospital in Hilla. The results indicated that 31(19.4%) blood samples revealed positive cultures consisting of 21(68%) gram-positive bacterial isolates and 10(32%) gram-negative isolates*. Gram-positive isolates represented by; Staphylococcus aureus which accounted for 10(33%), Coagulase negative Staphylococci (CoNS) which accounted for 5 isolates(16%), Streptococcus pygenes 4 isolates(13%), Listeria monocytogenes and Micrococcus sp. 1 isolate(3%) for each. The results showed that; infants under one months of age were more susceptible for bacteremia than other ages, in a rate of 32%. Males were found to be more susceptible than females, since the rates of infection were 52% and 48% respectively, with no significant correlation. The rate of infection in children living in rural area was found to be 67.7% while it was 32.2% in urban children with a significant correlation.