A simple clinical decision rule may help to rule out severe bacterial infection and spare antibiotics in febrile young children

Abstract

Fever is one of the most common reasons for children to present to paediatric emergency departments (PEDs). Fever may be challenging in young infants when not accompanied by specific symptoms guiding the diagnosis. Although most children with fever without source will have a viral illness, 7%-23% of febrile children <5 years of age who are admitted to PEDs have serious bacterial infections (SBIs). [1][2][3] Among SBIs, urinary tract infection is the most common. Although a 48-h delay in antibiotics (ATB) treatment is not deleterious for urinary tract infection in the absence of sepsis signs, 4 two invasive bacterial infections (IBIs) must be quickly and accurately detected: