Infection Management (IM)

The St. Jude Global Infection Management Program (IM) works to improve outcomes for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases by advancing evidence-informed approaches to infection management across diverse global settings.

Infections are a leading cause of illness and death among children with cancer, accounting for one in five deaths in children with cancer worldwide. Even when successfully treated, infections can interrupt treatment, reduce quality of life, and place additional burdens on families and healthcare systems. The St. Jude Global Infection Management Program is dedicated to improving outcomes in children with cancer and other catastrophic disease by addressing priority problems in infectious diseases.

Through collaboration with partners across 70 countries and 180 sites, the program advances research, quality improvement, guideline development, and education initiatives that strengthen infection management. We amplify local expertise and foster global collaboration to support sustainable improvements in care for children around the world.

The program’s focus areas include:

• Research: Generating knowledge to better understand infections and improve outcomes for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.
• Quality Improvement: Helping healthcare teams globally to use data and shared learning to strengthen infection management practices.
• Guideline Development: Creating collaborative, context-specific and evidence-based guidance that supports quality care across resource-limited settings.
• Education and Training: Providing learning opportunities and resources that build skills and knowledge among healthcare professionals globally.
• Global Collaboration: Connecting collaborators around the world to share local and global expertise and drive long-lasting improvements in care for children.

Collaborative research and shared learning are essential to define best practice in rare populations. The program’s current areas of focus include fever management, antimicrobial stewardship, sepsis and infection-related outcomes.

• Fever Registry (FEVEREG): A global clinical registry that supports data-informed approaches to fever management and infection-related outcomes.
• Sepsis Prevalence and Antimicrobial Use in Children with CancEr (SPACCE) – A Global Multicenter Point Prevalence Study in Pediatric Intensive Care: A prospective, observational, multisite study examining the burden of sepsis, patterns of antimicrobial use and associated clinical outcomes in pediatric oncology global intensive care settings.
• Pediatric Infectious Disease, Clinical Microbiology, and Antimicrobial Stewardship Collaborative (PIMMS): A quality improvement/quality assurance initiative for healthcare teams to strengthen antimicrobial stewardship and optimize the use of antibiotics.

Evidence-based clinical guidelines are most effective when they are co-developed, adapted and implemented to reflect local needs and contexts. The program partners with healthcare teams to support the development, adaptation and implementation of evidence-based clinical guidelines across St. Jude Global regions.

• Febrile Neutropenia Guideline Development and Implementation: The program co-designs approaches to support adaptation, implementation and uptake of evidence-informed febrile neutropenia guidelines across St. Jude Global regions.

Practical learning opportunities equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills to strengthen infection management practices and support guideline development and implementation. Through accessible educational resources and training, the program promotes evidence-informed practice and continuous learning across diverse settings.

• Guideline Development Training Modules: Available through the Cure4Kids platform, these modules provide foundational training in clinical guideline development and implementation.
• PIMMS Antimicrobial Stewardship Educational Repository: A series of five learning modules designed to improve provider knowledge and capacity in antimicrobial stewardship and infection management for immunocompromised children globally.

Contact

To learn more about the St. Jude Global Infection Management Program, please contact  globalinfectionmgmt@stjude.org.