Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and infection in children with cerebral palsy requiring mechanical ventilation

• Published in: Pediatric critical care medicine Vol. 10; no. 2; p. 222
• Main Authors: Thorburn, Kentigern, Jardine, Michelle, Taylor, Nia, Reilly, Nicola, Sarginson, Richard E, van Saene, Hendrick K F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.03.2009
• Subjects: Adolescent; Bacterial Infections - complications; Bacterial Infections - microbiology; Cerebral Palsy - complications; Cerebral Palsy - physiopathology; Child; Child, Preschool; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Humans; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; Prospective Studies; Respiration, Artificial
• ISSN: 1529-7535
• DOI: 10.1097/PCC.0b013e31819368ac

Severe and chronic illness can alter the bacterial flora carried in the oropharynx and gut. There are little data on the bacterial flora of children with chronic neurologic impairment. To assess carriage of abnormal bacterial flora, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, infection, and mortality in children with cerebral palsy (CP) admitted for pediatric intensive care. Prospective observational single center cohort study. Twenty-bed regional pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in a university-affiliated tertiary referral children's hospital. All children with an established diagnosis of CP admitted to PICU and ventilated for four or more days during a 6-yr period. Surveillance samples of throat and rectum were taken at admission to PICU and twice a week thereafter. Diagnostic samples were obtained on clinical indication. Fifty-three children with a total of 77 admissions were included. Most (90%) of the children with CP had moderate to severe functional limitations. Eighty-nine percent of the children with CP (47/53) carried abnormal bacterial flora/potential pathogens, most frequently Pseudomonas and Klebsiella species. Forty-seven percent (22/47) had antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Thirty-five children (66%) developed 86 infections during their PICU admission. Lower airways and blood were the two most commonly infected sites-Pseudomonas aeruginosa and coagulase-negative Staphylococci, the predominant infecting microorganisms. Sixty-five percent (56/86) of infections were primary endogenous infections, 21% (18/86) exogenous, and 9% (8/86) secondary endogenous. Carriage of abnormal bacterial flora, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and infection rate was significantly higher than that of children of comparative age without CP ventilated for four or more days on PICU. Nine (17%) of the children with CP died in PICU and 4 of the deaths were infection related. In children with moderate to severe chronic neurologic impairment admitted to PICU, there is a high rate of carriage of abnormal bacteria/potential pathogens, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and infection.