Post-splenectomy antibiotic prophylaxis--unfinished story: to treat or not to treat?

Overwhelming infection in asplenic patients is a well documented occurrence in the literature. The introduction of immunization with polyvalent pneumococcal, Hemophilus Influenza and meningococcal vaccines significantly cut down the incidence of post-splenectomy sepsis and mortality. However, the issue of prophylactic antibiotic therapy in these patients remains inconclusive. There are contradictory reports bouncing between life-long treatment to no treatment. There are also more flexible approaches emerging from patient difficulties complying with a prolonged therapy. This debate calls for developing a better predictive approach based on genetic profiling of patients with different susceptibility to infectious pathogens, host-pathogens interactions as well as to identify the impact of factors such as age, on immunological competence. Copyright (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.