• Mercedes de la Torre, Borja Gómez, Roberto Velasco, and Group for Study of Febrile Infant of Spanish Pediatric Emergency Research Group (RISeuP-SPERG).
• From the Pediatric Emergency Department, Niño Jesús University Hospital, Madrid.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2022 Jun 1; 38 (6): e1294e1297e1294-e1297.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze the prevalence of invasive bacterial infection (IBI) among infants younger than 90 days with fever without source according to the degree of fever.MethodsWe performed a secondary analysis of a multicenter study with 19 participating Spanish pediatric emergency departments that included 3401 febrile infants 90 days or younger.ResultsPrevalence of IBI was 3.2% (5.3% among infants <29 days old, 2.5% among those 29-60 days old, and 2.2% among those 61-90 days old). Prevalence of bacteremia increased with the degree of fever, meanwhile the prevalence of bacterial meningitis did not. No cutoff point was useful for ruling out an IBI safely. Overall, 46.7% of the IBIs were diagnosed in patients with temperature <38.6° (sensitivity, 53.3%; negative likelihood ratio, 0.81).ConclusionsPerforming blood tests should be recommended in infants 90 days or younger with temperature ≥38°C without source regardless of the degree of fever.Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

27 keywords...

hide…