title: Diagnostic value of leukopenia in young febrile infants.
abstract: We performed a 7-year registry-based retrospective study. We included 1365 infants younger than 3 months of age with fever without a source; 81 (5.9%) had <5000 leukocytes/mm(3). Among the 1021 well-appearing 29- to 90-day-old infants, prevalence of serious bacterial infection (SBI) was 13.8% for those with a normal white blood cell count, 6.8% for those with leukopenia (odds ratio, 0.45), and 36.6% for those with leukocytosis (odds ratio, 3.59). None of the 9 well-appearing febrile neonates with leukopenia developed an SBI. Leukopenia, in well-appearing young febrile infants, should not be considered as an SBI risk factor.
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Emergency Department, Cruces Hospital, Barakaldo, Spain. borja.gomezcortes@osakidetza.net
authors.forename: Borja
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mintegi
authors.forename: Edurne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Paniagua
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benito
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D005334:Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D007964:Leukocytosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D007970:Leukopenia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology