[Diet of neutropenic patients in pediatric oncology service; the experience of the university hospital of Strasbourg (HUS)]

OBJECTIVE

This article clarifies the choices made by the HUS concerning the ways of preparing food reserved to neutropenic children hospitalized in pediatric oncology service. We will describe the results of microbiological analysis of food realized from 2002 to 2007.

METHODS

A specific team prepares this food which is canned and treated by "appertisation" (autoclaving). Each dish portion produced is provided to the service only if the microbiological results are conform, that is to say free of organisms.

RESULTS

Three thousand and seventy-eight dishes were analysed: 82.9% of the analysed packs were conform. The contamination ratio decreased significantly (P<0.001) from 2002 to 2007. The organisms which cause the majority of dishes contamination are Bacillus (44.7%) and environmental mould exhibiting sterile mycelium (8.7%). The food which is the most frequently "nonconform" is the dry food with a contamination rate of 37.9%. The identified concentrations remain mainly lower than 50 colony-forming units per millilitre (CFU/mL): 66.2% for the bacteria and 97.2% for the fungi.

CONCLUSION

Considering the lack of consensus on the acceptable microbiological thresholds and on the food protection level, the HUS make it a rule to have a maximal precautionary principle. Currently, this principle appears to us to be a safety option required for the patients hospitalized in pediatric oncology service.