Garazzino S, Balletto E, Licciardi F, et al. - In the pediatric population, the spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) is identified as an impelling problem, with invasive infections linked with a high mortality rate. However, the Giannella Risk Score (GRS) seems to offer poor information in the pediatric setting; sometimes, the score identifies patients at very low risk of CPE infection, in whom targeted antimicrobial treatments could be spared.

• Analysis of a total of 215 patients (113 males and 102 females) with at least 1 isolation of CPE during hospitalization was done.

• There was documentation of overall 28 CPE infections (13%): 23 bloodstream infections and 5 complicated urinary tract infections.

• Invasive CPE infections were linked with a 30-day mortality rate of 34.8%.

• In patients with any CPE infection, statistically higher GRS values were recorded than noninfected patients.

• A GRS cut-off value ≥ 8 was suggested to be the best predictor of CPE infection as per the analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curves.