Febrile neutropenia requires prompt initiation of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which can be responsible for side-effects and selection of resistance. This study demonstrates the safety of an early discontinuation of empirical treatments, in carefully selected patients presenting with fever of unknown origin.

Infections are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in haematological patients, in particular during chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. Guidelines recommend immediate initiation of antibiotic therapy, whose optimal duration is unclear. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate early discontinuation of antibiotic treatment for Fever of Unknown Origin (FUO) in afebrile or febrile neutropenic patients. The secondary objective is to describe the epidemiology of febrile neutropenia (FN) in investigator centre.

Every episode of FN was prospectively identified. In the first phase of the study, empirical antibiotic therapy of FUO patients was stopped after 48 hours of apyrexia, in accordance with ECIL-4 (European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia) recommendations. In the second phase of the study, antibiotics were stopped on day 5 for all FUO patients, regardless of their temperature or their leukocyte count.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age ≥ 18 years;
• presence of a malignant haematological disease combined with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) count ≤ 500/mm3)
• fever defined by tympanic temperature of ≥38°C for ≥1 hour or a single temperature of ≥38.3°C

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients without curative care
• chronic neutropenia (PMN≤ 500/mm3 for 3 months or more)

Any patient admitted to the Department of Clinical Haematology of Brest Teaching Hospital (France) was eligible for this study.