Pneumococcemia in children--a retrospective study before universal pneumococcal vaccinations.

Aim: To evaluate the incidence and characteristics of blood culture-positive occult pneumococcemia compared with blood culture-positive pneumococcal pneumonia in children.

Methods: In years 2001-2010, 105 children with positive blood cultures for Streptococcus pneumoniae were identified from hospital electronic files. The patient cards were retrospectively charted for clinical and laboratory data, and 38 patients had and 67 had not pneumonia.