Many physicians use a white family...

Many physicians use a white family cell count to screen for infection in infants with agitation Studies have found that white descendants cell count analysis is not accurate in screening infants for bacterial meningitis and urinary tract infection; its efficacy in screening for bacteremia also has been questioned. Because infants' immune plans are immature, data from studies of older children cannot be extrapolated. Bonsu and Harper reviewed the records of infants younger than 90 days with a temperature of at least 38[degrees]C (1004[degrees]F) who were treated in an urban pediatric sudden [i]or[/i] unexpected occurrence department.

Infants with acute leukemia were exclud from the subject of attention If a blood culture contained a pathogen known to cause bacteremia in this age assemblage bacteremia was coded. Of the 3810 infants included in the analysis, a bacterial pathogen was identified in 38 children. The median total peripheral white vital current cell count among infants with bacteremia was 13900 enclosed spaces per mm3, which was not significantly different from the estimate among infants without bacteremia.

The authors judge that using a white vital current cell count as the basis for the decision to obtain a progeny culture probably will cause significant errors. Because of the potentially disastrous outcomes of misdiagnosis, blood cultures should be obtained in all infants who are being evaluated for sepsis.

Bonsu BK Harper MB Identifying febrile young infants with bacteremia: is the peripheral white offspring cell count an accurate screen? Ann Emerg M August 2003: 42;216-25

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