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Most prediction models for identifying febrile infants at risk for serious bacterial infection at the time of emergency department (ED) presentation are outdated, not based on epidemiological data, or include biomarkers such as procalcitonin that are not widely available in acute care settings.
Researchers derived and internally validated a new prediction model in a case-control study of infants (≤60 days old) who presented to 1 of 11 EDs with fever (rectal temperature ≥38.0°C) measured at home, in the clinic, or in the ED between 2011 and 2016. The study included 181 patients with invasive bacterial infection (IBI; defined as positive blood or cerebrospinal fluid cultures excluding contaminants) and 362 controls. Patients who were ill-appea…