title: Bacteremia and bacterial infections in highly febrile children without apparent focus.
abstract: To find the incidence of bacteremia and serious bacterial infections in febrile children without an apparent focus of infection, we prospectively studied 100 febrile children aged 1 month-3 years with a rectal temperature > or = 39 degrees C. Ten children had a blood culture positive bacteremia and nine had serology positive for bacteremia; 6 had urinary tract infection, 5 otitis media and 8 meningitis. A diagnosis of non bacterial illness was made in 62 patients. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common bacteriologic isolate on blood culture (five) and by serology (eight). TLC > or = 15,000/cu mm m-ESR > or = 25 mm and temperature > or = 39 degrees C had high specificity (95-100%) but low sensitivity for diagnosis of bacteremia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singhi
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kohli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ayyagiri
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005335:Fever of Unknown Origin / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity