Course: Prevalence of Serious Bacterial Infections Among Febrile Infants 90 Days or Younger in a Canadian Urban Pediatric Emergency Department During the COVID-19 Pandemic
CME Credits: 1.00
Released: 2021-07-13
Approximately 2% of all full-term neonates are evaluated for fever in the first months of life, and there exists significant ongoing variation in their care.1 Although most febrile neonates and infants 90 days or younger (hereafter referred to as young infants) have self-limited viral illnesses, the prevalence of life-threatening serious bacterial infections (SBIs) has remained approximately 10% for more than 30 years.1 On March 11, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, and since that time, studies worldwide have reported a 30% to 89% reduction in the number of children brought to emergency care2,3 as well as fewer circulating respiratory viruses owing to widespread COVID-19 public health mitigation strategies.4,5 To our knowledge, the epidemiologic characteristics of SBIs among febrile young infants during the COVID-19 pandemic has not previously been assessed. We sought to assess the prevalence of SBIs among febrile young infants evaluated in the emergency department (ED) for fever during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article
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