Serious Bacterial Infections in Febrile Infants Below Two Months of Age, in Gothenburg, Sweden
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Background: Fever is a common reason for pediatric emergency department visits. The frequency of serious bacterial infections (SBI) in febrile infants is estimated, in international studies, to 6.8 – 22.4%. Recent studies have reported a shift in the epidemiology over the last decades with an increased incidence of pyelonephritis caused by Escherichia Coli and a decrease of bacteremia and meningitis. Other common causes of fever are otitis and upper respiratory tract infections, while it is common that no obvious cause is identified. Aim: To describe etiologies and prevalence of SBIs in febrile infants ≤ 2 months of age presenting to the pediatric emergency department in Gothenburg, Sweden. Method: Medical records of infants ≤ 60 days from 2015, 2016 and 2017, with fever as main complaint, were retrospectively examined. SBI was defined as pyelonephritis, bacteremia, meningitis. Results: Out of 625 included patients, 66 (10.6%) had an SBI. Pyelonephritis was found in 52 (78.8%), bacteremia in six (9.1%), meningitis in two (3.0%) of the 66 SBI cases respectively and in six (9.1%) cases were a combination of SBIs found. E. Coli was identified in 49 (94.2%) cases of pyelonephritis, in one (16.7%) case of bacteremia and in five (83.3%) of combined cases. Other commonly identified causes were upper respiratory tract infections (168; 26.8%) and otitis (49; 7.8%). No focus of infection was identified in 297 (47.5%) cases. 2 Conclusion: The SBI prevalence of 10.6% corresponds well with what is previously seen in international studies. E. Coli was the most dominant pathogen. Benign causes were found in three quarters of cases.