TITLE:
Association between an Incomplete Vaccination Schedule and Nosocomial Sepsis among Children with Cancer
AUTHORS:
Jesus Reyna-Figueroa, Diana PerezPeña-Rosas, Patricia Galindo-Delgado, Ana Elena Limon-Rojas, Vicente Madrid-Marina
KEYWORDS:
Vaccines; Cancer; Pediatrics; Immunocompromise; Association
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Vaccines,
Vol.3 No.1,
February
22,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Background: Patients with cancer constitute a
special group where immunization programs are often interrupted to begin
treatment with chemotherapy. Sepsis is one of the main complications in this
group. Methods: A hospital-based case-control study matched by age was carried out among
subjects ≤ 9 years of age
with cancer diagnosis. Children with cancer without sepsis and children with
surgical pathology were included as controls; children with sepsis were included
as cases. A bivariate logistic regression was used to determine the factors
associated to nosocomial sepsis, and odds ratios were calculated with 95%
confidence intervals. The percentage of attributable risk was calculated for
the variables included in the final model. Results: Nineteen children with cancer and sepsis and 83 controls were included. Twelve
(44%) caseshad an incomplete vaccination schedule according to their age. The
association force between incomplete schedule and sepsis was 10.1 (95% CI, 3 - 36; p Conclusions: Approximately, 20% to 65% of the cases of serious nosocomial infection
can be associated to an incomplete vaccination schedule. Strategies should be
implemented to improve the general pediatric population’s vaccination status
before a serious disease, such as cancer or another chronic condition
preventing the application of vaccines, develops.