[Bacterial septicemias in children with homozygous sickle cell anemia. Analysis of 69 cases].

A retrospective analysis of 69 case-reports of children with homozygous sickle cell anemia hospitalized from 1964 through 1985 at the Kinshasa University Pediatric Hospital highlights these patient's high susceptibility to bacterial septicemia. Among causative organisms, the most prevalent were salmonellae (20 cases), pneumococci (15 cases), and klebsiella (12 cases). Clinical features of bacterial septicemia are identical in children with and without sickle cell anemia. Bone and/or joint infections are usually found in salmonella septicemia and meningeal or pleuropulmonary localizations in pneumococcal septicemia. Eighteen children (26%) died, including 10 with pneumococcal septicemia (5 cases) and 10 with Salmonella septicemia (5 cases). Poor prognosis factors include resistance to commonly used antimicrobial agents, frequently found with Salmonella organisms, and concomitant meningeal infection.