Factor | Adults (≥ 20 years old) (n=141) | Children (< 20 years old) (n=61) | p-value |
---|---|---|---|
Age (years) | 44 (36-54) | 9 (3-15) | Â |
Gender (male) | 67 (47.5) | 41 (67.2) | 0.010 |
Underlying disease | Â | Â | 0.215 |
 Acute myeloid leukemia | 103 (73.1) | 44 (72.1) |  |
 Acute lymphoblastic leukemia | 23 (16.3) | 13 (21.3) |  |
 Other leukemias | 4 (2.8) | 3 (4.9) |  |
 Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 8 (5.7) | 1 (1.6) |  |
 Multiple myeloma | 3 (2.1) | 0 (0.0) |  |
Complete remission status | 84 (59.6) | 40 (65.6) | 0.421 |
Preceding therapy | Â | Â | 0.103 |
 Conventional chemotherapy | 131 (92.9) | 61 (100.0) |  |
 Hematopoietic cell transplantation |  |  |  |
   Autologous | 8 (5.7) | 0 (0.0) |  |
   Allogeneic | 2 (1.4) | 0 (0.0) |  |
Duration after the preceding therapy (days) | 12 (10-13) | 13 (12-14) | <0.001 |
Antibacterial prophylaxis* | Â | Â | < 0.001 |
 None | 4 (2.9) | 1 (1.6) |  |
 Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole | 0 (0) | 53 (86.9) |  |
 Ciprofloxacin | 134 (97.1) | 7 (11.5) |  |
Accompanying symptoms | Â | Â | Â |
 Oral mucositis | 36 (25.5) | 5 (8.2) | 0.005 |
 Cough | 9 (6.4) | 12 (19.7) | 0.004 |
 Sputum | 5 (3.5) | 4 (6.6) | 0.458 |
 Rhinorrhea | 1 (0.7) | 0 (0.0) | 1.000 |
 Diarrhea | 46 (32.6) | 14 (23.0) | 0.167 |
 Abdominal pain | 35 (24.8) | 3 (4.9) | 0.001 |
Polymicrobial infection | Â | Â | Â |
 Other bacterial infection | 18 (12.8) | 4 (6.6) | 0.193 |
 Fungal infection | 16 (11.3) | 2 (3.3) | 0.065 |
Complications attributable to VSB | 22 (15.6) | 4 (6.6) | 0.078 |
 Ventilator care | 5 (3.5) | 3 (4.9) | 0.700 |
 Acute respiratory distress syndrome | 4 (2.8) | 2 (3.3) | 1.000 |
 Shock | 22 (15.6) | 4 (76.6) | 0.078 |
 Death | 3 (2.1) | 1 (1.6) | 1.000 |
Overall death | 12 (8.5) | 2 (3.3) | 0.236 |
Laboratory findings | Â | Â | Â |
  White blood cell count (/μL) | 50 (20-160) | 60 (30-135) | 0.127 |
  Absolute neutrophil count (/μL) | 0 (0-0) | 0 (0-0) | 0.228 |
  Duration of neutropenia before the diagnosis of VSB (days) | 6 (4-7) | 6 (4-8) | 0.138 |
  Total duration of neutropenia (days) | 17 (12-24) | 15 (11-22) | 0.823 |
 Peak C-reactive protein level (mg/dL) | 19.6 (13.2-26.5) | 18.6 (9.7-25.5) | 0.157 |