Background: Most protocols evaluating serious bacterial infection (SBI) risk in febrile infants, classify neonates
Objectives: To compare SBI rates between
Methods: Retrospective, population-based, cohort study. Data were obtained for all febrile infants <60d, hospitalized between Jan-2013 through May-2014.
Results: Overall, 623 infants were identified. Urinary tract infection comprised 84.7% (133/157) of all SBI.
Among HR Infants, higher SBI rates were observed in vs. 30-60d (45.0% vs. 29.3%, p=0.003), while respective rates were similar in low-risk (LR) infants (8.4% vs. 11.0%, p=0.66). Trends for higher SBI rates in infants 0-14d vs. 15-60d were observed in both HR (45.3% vs. 33.6%, p=0.12), and LR infants (19.2% vs. 8.9%, p=0.15).
Among HR Infants, SBI rates were 52.8% and 39.5% in infants 0 and <390, respectively, while in infants ≥30d, respective rates were 31.2% and 26.7% (p=0.005, comparing the four groups). In contrast, among LR-infants, SBI rates were not affected by temperature degree (range 8.3%-10.5% in both age groups; p=0.97). Similarly, thrombocytopenia was associated with higher SBI rates in HR, but not in LR.
Conclusions:
In HR infants, SBI rates varied between ~25-50%, with higher rates in younger age, higher temperature and thrombocytopenia. In contrast, SBI rates were constant (~10%) in LR infants, regardless of these risk factors.
