Well-Appearing Infants and Children Younger Than 2 Years of Age Presenting to the Emergency Department With Fever

Infants and children at increased risk for urinary tract infection include females younger than 12 months, uncircumcised males, nonblack race, fever duration greater than 24 hours, higher fever (≥39°C), negative test result for respiratory pathogens, and no obvious source of infection. Although the presence of a viral infection decreases the risk, no clinical feature has been shown to effectively exclude urinary tract infection. Physicians should consider urinalysis and urine culture testing to identify urinary tract infection in well-appearing infants and children aged 2 months to 2 years with a fever ≥38°C (100.4°F), especially among those at higher risk for urinary tract infection. (C)