Abstract

ALVAREZ RODRIGUEZ, Alicia. Proposal of category of low risk of severe bacterial infection in febrile children. Rev Cubana Pediatr [online]. 2014, vol.86, n.2. ISSN 0034-7531.

Introduction: several algorithms have been applied to evaluate children with fever without apparent cause. These algorithms have drastically changed and the aggressive treatments applied in 1980-1990 decade have made way to identification of febrile children at low risk of severe bacterial infections. Objective: to show the advantages of the category of low risk of severe bacterial infection to predict febrile children with lower probabilities of presenting with these infections. Methods: this research work was designed according to modern tendencies. A retrospective review of all 855 febrile children was made. They were one to 36 months-old, initially classified as low risk of severe bacterial infections and included in the databases of a research called Categories of Risk of Severe Bacterial Infection: Predictive Procedure to Evaluate Febrile Children and Its Generalization (1996-2012), in order to verify the usefulness of low risk category to predict children without severe bacterial infections and precise over the final results of their progression. Results: in the group, 92.5 % of children (791) had no several bacterial infections; just 7.5 % (64) suffered them. Of these febrile children, 80.3 % were followed-up at home and the rest was admitted to the hospital. The negative predictive values and the specificity of the low risk categories resulted in ideal values of 100 %. Conclusions: Most of the febrile children evaluated as low risk did not show severe bacterial infections and were followed-up at home, so this was an excellent procedure to predict febrile children at lower risk of suffering these infections, with satisfactory clinical prevision.

Keywords : febrile child; low risk category; severe bacterial infection.

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