Evaluation of child with fever without source: review of literature and update

Rajan Arora; Prashant Mahajan

doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2013.06.009

Evaluation of child with fever without source: review of literature and update

Pediatr Clin North Am. 2013 Oct;60(5):1049-62. doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2013.06.009. Epub 2013 Jul 19.

Authors

Rajan Arora¹, Prashant Mahajan

Affiliation

¹ Division of Emergency Medicine, Carman and Ann Adam Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 3901 Beaubien Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.

PMID: 24093895
DOI: 10.1016/j.pcl.2013.06.009

Abstract

Fever is one of the most common reasons for a visit to the primary care provider or the emergency department. Traditionally, clinicians have used various risk-stratification strategies to identify serious bacterial infections (SBI) without an obvious source in febrile children, because missed bacterial infections in such children can result in meningitis, sepsis, and death; therefore, early and accurate identification of SBIs is critical. Infants aged less than 60 to 90 days are at greatest risk of SBI. The epidemiology of SBI continues to evolve, especially after the successful introduction of conjugate vaccines against Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae.

Keywords: Fever; Fever without source; Serious bacterial infection; Tissue culture.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Bacterial Infections / diagnosis*
Bacterial Infections / epidemiology
Bacterial Infections / microbiology
Child, Preschool
Diagnosis, Differential
Fever of Unknown Origin / diagnosis*
Fever of Unknown Origin / epidemiology
Fever of Unknown Origin / microbiology
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Mass Screening / methods*
Risk Factors