Filovirus RNA in Fruit Bats, China

developed 6 weeks later (6). Blood culture grew B. longum and B. infantis, which were probiotic strains. Apart from 1 case of sepsis caused by B. longum associated with acupuncture in a 19-year-old healthy patient (7), we did not find other reports of invasive Bifidobacterium spp. infections. Because neutropenic episodes, even with bowel involvement, are common during treatment for cancer (8), no reason to promote therapeutic use of probiotics has been proven. Probiotics can cause substantial bacterial overgrowth when stimulating factors are present. In our opinion, avoiding fecal impaction is crucial for preventing colonic bacterial overgrowth and minimizes the chance that bacteria will translocate and cause invasive infection. Nutritional recommendations for a neutropenic diet for children are still debated. The problem is not probiotic therapy but rather fermented food products to which small amounts of probiotics are added. After we reviewed the literature, we did not find enough data to safely recommend the use of these products in children receiving chemotherapy (9). Nevertheless, probiotic therapy is recommended for many immunocompromised patients, such as preterm infants and persons with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (10). We believe that this case of B. breve sepsis in an oncology patient underscores the invasive potential of probiotics.