Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University School
of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
Note: [] Correspondence: Itzhak Brook, MD, MSc, 4431 Albemarle st NW,
Washington DC 20016, USA. Tel.: +1 202 363 4253; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Anaerobic infections are common in children yet difficult to
diagnose. Anaerobes are the most predominant components of the skin and mucous
membranes bacterial flora, and are therefore a common cause of endogenous
infections. Because of their fastidiousness, they are difficult to isolate and
are often overlooked. Anaerobic infections can occur in all body sites,
including the central nervous system, head and neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis,
skin, and soft tissues. They can occur at any age and have a unique role in
newborns. Therapy inadequate against these organisms may lead to clinical
failures. Their isolation requires appropriate methods of collection,
transportation and cultivation of specimens. Treatment is complicated by the
slow growth of anaerobes, by their growing resistance to antimicrobials, and by
the polymicrobial nature of the infection. Antimicrobial therapy is often the
only form of therapy required, whereas in others it is an adjunct to a surgical
approach. Because anaerobic bacteria generally are recovered mixed with aerobic
organisms, the choice of appropriate antimicrobial agents should provide for
adequate coverage of both types of pathogens.
Keywords: Anaerobes, Bacteroides fragilis, Clostridium spp., children
