Serious Bacterial Infections in the Febrile Infant

Image Credit: Pixabay

Authors: Kaycie Corburn, MD; Jacqueline Shibata, MD; Lee Grodin, MD; Raymond Beyda, MD
Edited by: Jay Khadpe, MD FAAEM; Michael C. Bond, MD FAAEM
Originally Published: Common Sense September/October 2015

Pediatric fever, especially in infants, is often a challenging and nerve-racking presentation to evaluate in the ED. The prevalence of serious bacterial infections (SBI) in young infants range from 8-20%.[1] There is no clear cut consensus on how to work-up these patients in the ED.[2] As a result, many infants are subjected to invasive, unnecessary, and costly procedures or needlessly treated with empiric antibiotics and hospitalizations. In this edition of the Resident Journal Review, we review the literature on this topic in an effort to give more clarity on how to approach the febrile infant.