Fatal sepsis in a child with thalassemia major due to Serratia marcescens

Abstract

One of the most important causes of mortality in thalassemic patients is infectious disease. Thalassemic patients develop severe invasive infection caused by microorganisms that are rare in healthy individuals. We describe the case of a 13-year-old splenectomized boy who presented with septic shock and who died 36 h after admission, despite broad-spectrum antibiotics and aggressive supportive care. Serratia marcescens was isolated from cultures of blood and tracheal aspirate. It is known that rare microorganisms will cause severe community-acquired infection in splenectomized patients with thalassemia major.

In vitro effect of iron chelators on the growth of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains

“…Iron overload in thalassemia patients could cause bone disorders, endocrine gland disorders (delayed growth, sexual maturation disorders, diabetes mellitus, and failure of thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands), heart problems, and cirrhosis (1,5,6). One of the conditions that could cause death of thalassemia patients is infectious diseases and subsequent septicemia (7)(8)(9). In these patients, increase in blood ferritin, repeated venous catheterizations, and splenectomy are considered as major risk factors for septicemia.…”

Acinetobacter baumannii Infection in Transfusion Dependent Thalassemia Patients with Sepsis

“…The chances for the bacterial transmission are higher either from the contaminated equipment or the already infected blood [10–12]. The mortality, due to the septic shock as a result of blood infection, is one of the common observations in the cases of thalassemia [13]. As Pakistan comprises a large, transfusion dependent, population suffering from thalassemia, there is a huge gap for identifying the risk of bacterial contamination in these patients.…”