Predictors of Bacteremia in Febrile Children 3 to 36 Months of Age

Abstract

Use of the formulas derived here allows the clinician to estimate a child's risk for bacteremia based on temperature, ANC, and gender. This approach offers a useful alternative to predictions based on fever and WBC alone.bacteremia, detection, white blood cell.

Lack of Accuracy of Body Temperature for Detecting Serious Bacterial Infection in Febrile Episodes

“…9,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Our finding that body temperature is not an accurate marker of serious bacterial infection has been reported previously in a small sample of febrile children (n = 138) within a narrow age range (under 1 year of age). 9 Studies that included temperature in their multivariate analysis of possible predictors of bacteremia or serious bacterial infection have reported odds ratios that suggest a poor test performance of temperature in their multiple regressions models.…”

“…9 Studies that included temperature in their multivariate analysis of possible predictors of bacteremia or serious bacterial infection have reported odds ratios that suggest a poor test performance of temperature in their multiple regressions models. 16,18,20 To our knowledge no prior studies have investigated the effect of age, appearance, or duration of illness on the accuracy of temperature as a marker of serious bacterial infection. This is a large prospective cohort study of a wide pediatric age group that has evaluated the diagnostic test performance characteristics of temperature as a marker of serious bacterial infection in the post pneumococcal vaccination era.…”

Bacteremia in children: epidemiology, clinical diagnosis and antibiotic treatment

“…The yield from blood culture depends upon the volume of blood taken; 1-5 ml is recommended from infants and children. The yield has been noted to increase by approximately 3% per ml of blood culture [4][5][6].…”

Changing Epidemiology of Outpatient Bacteremia in 3- to 36-Month-Old Children After the Introduction of the Heptavalent-Conjugated Pneumococcal Vaccine

“…11 Experienced clinicians use a combination of clinical judgment, these guidelines, clinical and laboratory indices, immunization status and demographic risk factors to identify children at increased risk of bacteremia and then base treatment decisions on this empiric risk assessment. 2,12,13 During prelicensure studies at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, it was shown that the heptavalent conjugated pneumococcal vaccine (PNCV7; Prevnar) was highly effective at preventing invasive pneumococcal disease. Studies after the introduction of routine conjugated pneumococcal immunizations have shown a substantial drop in the incidence of pneumococcal bacteremia in the toddler age group.…”