Purpose Investigation of the current practice of diagnostics and treatment in pediatric cancer patients with febrile neutropenia. Methods On behalf of the German Society for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology and the German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases, an Internet-based survey was conducted in 2016 concerning the management of febrile neutropenia in pediatric oncology centers (POC). This survey accompanied the release of the corresponding German guideline to document current practice before its implementation in clinical practice. Results In total, 51 POCs participated (response rate 73%; 43 from Germany, and 4 each from Austria and Switzerland). Identified targets for antimicrobial stewardship concerned blood culture diagnostics, documentation of the time to antibiotics, the use of empirical combination therapy, drug monitoring of aminoglycosides, the time to escalation in patients with persisting fever, minimal duration of IV treatment, sequential oral treatment in patients with persisting neutropenia, indication for and choice of empirical antifungal treatment, and the local availability of a pediatric infectious diseases consultation service. Conclusion This survey provides useful information for local antibiotic stewardship teams to improve the current practice referring to the corresponding national and international guidelines. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s15010-020-01462-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Immunocompromised children and adolescents receiving treatment for cancer have a considerably increased risk for infection. Neutropenia is the most important single risk factor for infectious complications, and fever in neutropenia is considered as an emergency. Whereas guidelines for the management of fever in neutropenic adults have been established for decades, specific pediatric guidelines have not been developed until recently. As children differ in many aspects from adults such as in the underlying malignancy or in the availability and dosing of antimicrobial compounds, guidelines for pediatric patients are important. This article reviews similarities and differences between the recently published German interdisciplinary guideline of the German Societies of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Pediatric Oncology and Hematology and a guideline developed by a panel of international experts for the management of fever in neutropenia in children and adolescents.

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ZusammenfassungKinder und Jugendliche, die durch eine Krebserkrankung und ihre Therapie immunsupprimiert sind, haben ein hohes Risiko für potentiell lebensbedrohliche Infektionen wie Bakteriämien durch Gram-positive und Gram-negative Erreger. Aus diesem Grunde verabreichen einige Zentren diesen Patienten eine antibakterielle Prophylaxe. Kürzlich wurden 2 Leitlinien zur antibakteriellen Prophylaxe bei Kindern publiziert. Eine dieser Leitlinien wurde durch eine internationale Expertengruppe aus Europa, Nord- und Südamerika sowie Australien erstellt. Die andere Leitlinie wurde durch eine rein europäische Gruppe im Rahmen der achten European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia (ECIL-8) verfasst. In der vorliegenden Übersichtsarbeit stellen die Arbeitsgruppen „Infektionen“ der Gesellschaft für Pädiatrische Onkologie und Hämatologie (GPOH) und „Fieber bei Neutropenie“ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Pädiatrische Infektiologie (DGPI) die wichtigsten Daten von randomisierten Studien, systematischen Reviews und Meta-Analysen zur antibiotischen Prophylaxe als auch von Untersuchungen zur Resistenzentwicklung vor und diskutieren methodologische Aspekte und jeweiligen Empfehlungen der beiden Leitlinien.

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