Prevalence of Invasive Bacterial Infections Among Febrile Infants Aged 60 to 90 Days

What is the prevalence of any invasive bacterial infection (bacteremia and/or bacterial meningitis) among well-appearing infants in the third month of life evaluated for fever in emergency department or outpatient settings?In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 cohorts including 34 835 infants, the pooled prevalence of any invasive bacterial infection was 1.11%. The prevalence of bacteremia was 1.01%, whereas bacterial meningitis prevalence was 0.11%.The risk of bacteremia among well-appearing febrile infants in the third month of life was approximately 1%, and bacterial meningitis was rare. These findings should inform shared parent and clinician decision-making and guideline development.

Corresponding Author: Brett Burstein, MDCM, PhD, MPH, Montreal Children’s Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, 1001 Decarie Blvd, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1, Canada (brett.burstein@mail.mcgill.ca).

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