Podcast 703: Fever in Infants

Contributor: Neil Cella, MD 

Educational Pearls:

• <29 day old well-appearing febrile infant:
• • 10% of patients <29 days old with a fever (>100.4) have an serious bacterial infection
  • Most of these are UTIs, but also consider pneumonia and meningitis
  • Requires CXR, LP, labs, and UA to work up cause of fever
• 29-60 day old well-appearing febrile infant: 
• • Can discharge without abx if CXR, lumbar puncture, labs and UA without signs of bacterial infection
• If UA is positive for UTI a LP is still indicated for febrile infants <29 days old, but may not be required for febrile infants 29-60 days old

References

Hamilton JL, Evans SG, Bakshi M. Management of Fever in Infants and Young Children. Am Fam Physician. 2020;101(12):721-729.

Summarized by John Spartz, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD