abstract
Febrile neutropenia is the main treatment-related cause of mortality in cancer patients. During June 2012
to April 2014, 97 blood culture samples were collected from patients receiving chemotherapy for hematological
malignancy and cancer with febrile neutropenia episodes (FNEs). The samples were examined
for the presence of bacteria and fungi using real-time PCR amplification and sequencing of 16S and
18S rRNA genes.
Bacteria were identified in 20 of 97 samples (20.6%) by the real-time PCR assay and in 10 of 97 (10.3%)
samples by blood culture. In 6 blood culture-positive samples, the real-time PCR assay detected the same
type of bacteria. No fungi were detected by the real-time PCR assay or blood culture. During antibiotic
therapy, all samples were negative by blood culture, but the real-time PCR assay yielded a positive result
in 2 cases of 2 (100%). The bacterial DNA copy number was not well correlated with the serum C-reactive
protein titer of patients with FNEs. We conclude that a real-time PCR assay could provide better detection
of causative microbes' in a shorter time, and with a smaller blood sample than blood culture. Using a
real-time PCR assay in combination with blood culture could improve microbiological documentation of
FNEs.
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