J Oral Pathol Med (2012) 41: 568–576 Background:  Oral microbial flora and a damaged oral mucosa may increase the risk of bacteriemia, fungemia and complications in immunocompromised patients. Aim of the Study:  Assessment of presence: bacteria and Candida spp. in different oral lesions, and the incidence of bacteremia in the case of a damaged mucosa in transplant recipients and patients receiving anti‐tumour chemotherapy. Material and Method:  Forty‐five patients – 18 months to 18 years of life, were included (20 – organ recipients, 14– anti‐tumour chemotherapy, 11 – control group). Clinical, oral mucosa examination focused on the type, severity and site of lesions, and microbiology assessed the presence of bacteria and fungi in the material from lesions. Blood cultures were performed in ten immunocompromised patients with manifestations of systemic infection. The control material consisted of blood cultures made prior to the onset of oral lesions and after 4–6 weeks following their remission in a diagnosed bacteremia. The statistical analysis was performed. Results:  In the subjects with secondary immunodeficiency, among other coagulase‐negative Staphylococcus (CoNS), Candidia spp. were more frequent. In cancer patients, mucositis was associated with Candida spp., Streptococcus spp. Organ recipients with stomatitis exhibited the presence of CoNS, Streptococcus viridians and other. Oral lesions in the control group contained Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Neisseria spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. In 30% of immunocompromised patients, oral lesions were accompanied by bacteremia. Conclusions:  A correlation has been found between oral lesions and the presence of S. aureus in patients without secondary immunodeficiency, and of CoNS, Enterococcus spp., Candida spp. in immunocompromised patients.

Objectives: The analysis of epidemiology, risk factors and outcome of infections in children with malignant bone tumors (MBT) undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: In this retrospective nationwide multicenter cross-sectional study, a total number of 126 children with MBT including 70 with Ewing sarcoma (ES) and 56 with osteosarcoma (OSA) were screened for infections over a period of 72 consecutive months. Results: The risk of infection was 7.15-fold higher in patients with ES as compared to the OSA group, especially concerning bacterial infections (4.1-fold increase risk). Bacterial infections occurred in 74.3% patients with ES and in 41.1% with OSA. The median time from diagnosis to first infection was 4.9 months. 33.0% of bacterial episodes were diagnosed as bloodstream (BSI), 31.1% as gastrointestinal tract, 30.1% as urinary tract infection. Infection-related mortality (IRM) from bacterial infection was 6% and 15% in ES and OSA patients, respectively. Cumulative incidence was 7.1% for invasive fungal disease and 6.3% for viral infections. The only significant risk factor for IRM was time to infection ≥5 months since the beginning of chemotherapy. All patients who have died from infection had BSI and were in neutropenia. Conclusions: Infections in the children with MBT in our study occurred with high frequency, especially in patients with ES. The most frequent were bacterial infections, while fungal and viral infections were episodic. Among the bacterial infections, bloodstream, urinary tract and gastrointestinal tract infections occurred with similar frequency. All deceased patients died due to BSI. Bacterial infection occurring ≥5 months since the beginning of chemotherapy was a risk factor for death.

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Among 110 randomly sampled strains from a collection of 247 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae collected from hospitalised children in three paediatric hospitals in Poland, 64 strains (58.2%) with multiple ESBLs were found, including five non-clonal strains (4.5%) harbouring bla genes for ESBLs of three families (CTX-M, SHV and TEM). This is the first report of the emergence of triple ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae in Poland. In addition, K. pneumoniae strains harbouring bla genes for TEM-130 and TEM-132 ESBLs were detected in Poland for the first time. Epidemiological analysis of the multiple ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae isolates by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) revealed a relatively high genetic diversity between isolates producing the same combination of enzymes. Clonally related strains were uncommon.

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