Symposium on infections in the compromised host. The leukemias.

The treatment of acute leukemia in the adult causes prolonged and profound granulocytopenia. When the patient has less than 100 granulocytes per microliter, the risk of life-threatening infection is extremely high. Major infections include bacteremia, pneumonia, pharyngitis, esophagitis, colitis, perianal or perirectal lesions, and cellulitis. The major organisms are gram-negative bacilli (especially Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae), gram-positive organisms (Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus), the yeasts (Candida albicans and Torulopsis glabrata), and the filamentous fungi (Aspergillus flavus and fumigatus). Infection prevention includes the return to normal of the patient's host defense mechanisms, reduction of invasive procedures which breach body barriers, and methods to decrease the acquisition of potential pathogens, and to reduce the number of organisms colonizing the patient.