The Febrile Child and Occult Bacteremia

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Abstract
Febrile illnesses are a part of growing up. Children may have three or more illnesses with fever in each of the first three years of life.1 Most episodes are minor, will resolve without the use of antimicrobial agents, and are caused by a viral infection. Many febrile illnesses have an identifiable focus of infection, such as middle-ear infection. But in approximately 3 to 10 percent of febrile children, invasive bacterial infection is present and may be documented by a blood culture. Because the bacteremia is usually unsuspected, it is termed "occult bacteremia," and most children are cared for outside the . . .