C-reactive protein in febrile children 1 to 36 months of age with clinically undetectable serious bacterial infection. Pediatrics 2001;108

ABSTRACT. Objective. To determine the diagnostic properties of quantitative C-reactive protein (CRP) asso-ciated with clinically undetectable serious bacterial in-fection (SBI) in febrile children 1 to 36 months of age. Methods. Febrile children presenting to a pediatric emergency department (ED) with ages ranging from 1 to 36 months, temperatures>39°C, and clinically undetect-able source of fever were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Demographic information, ED tempera-ture, duration of fever, and clinical evaluation using the Yale observation scale were recorded at the time of the initial evaluation. The white blood cell count (WBC), band count, absolute neutrophil count (ANC), and CRP concentration were measured at the same time. All pa-tients received blood cultures and either a screening uri