Meropenem is not licensed in infants below three months of age. Off-label use in this
age group is common for sepsis, intraabdominal and cerebral infections. We report
the case of a 9-week-old infant with an intracerebral Enterobacter cloacae abscess, who developed neutropenia after 19 days of treatment with meropenem. A literature
search revealed only one other case report of meropenem-associated bone marrow aplasia
in a 3-year old child. An additional search using the World Health Organization Global
Individual Case Safety Report database from the Collaborating Centre for International
Drug Monitoring showed eight reports of haematological adverse events in children
between 2 and 9 years of age. Severe neutropenia or agranulocytosis is a rare but
serious and potentially life-threatening adverse event of meropenem and should be
considered in children at any age who present with leucopenia or agranulocytosis.
Keywords
Carbapenem - aplasia - pharmacovigilance - adverse event - Enterobacter
