Fever is the most common reason for a child to seek medical care. While most infants and children have benign viral causes of fever, a small percentage will have more serious infections. Unlike the situation in infants <2 mo of age,…
Fever is a common reason for neonates and young infants to undergo medical evaluation in the hospital or ambulatory setting. For this age-group (0-3 mo), fever without a focus refers to a rectal temperature of 38°C (100.4°F) or greater, without other…
Fever is defined as a rectal temperature ≥38°C (100.4°F), and a value >40°C (104°F) is called hyperpyrexia . Traditionally, body temperature fluctuates in a defined normal range (36.6-37.9°C [97.9-100.2°F] rectally), so that the highest point is reached in early evening…
Children are traveling internationally with increasing frequency and to more exotic destinations that pose unique injury and disease risks. Compared to adults, children are less likely to receive pretravel advice and more likely to be seen by a medical provider…
More than 20 million children <5 yr old attend a childcare facility. These facilities can include part-day or full-day programs at nursery schools or preschools and full-day programs based in either a licensed childcare center or another person's home. Regardless of…
Infection prevention and control ( IPC ) programs have an important role in pediatric medicine. To be fully effective, IPC programs require a functional infrastructure that addresses collaboration with the public health system, widespread immunizations, and use of appropriate techniques…
Immunization is one of the most beneficial and cost-effective disease-prevention measures available. As a result of effective and safe vaccines, smallpox has been eradicated, polio is close to worldwide eradication, and measles and rubella are no longer endemic in the…
From the time of birth, the human infant is exposed to a myriad of microbes found on the mother and in the surrounding environment. Microbes rapidly form assemblages across exposed areas of the body, including the skin and enteral tract.…
Laboratory evidence to support the diagnosis of an infectious disease may be based on one or more of the following: direct examination of specimens using microscopic or antigen detection techniques, isolation of microorganisms in culture, serologic testing, host gene expression…
Relapsing Polychondritis Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare condition characterized by episodic chondritis causing cartilage destruction and deformation of the ears (sparing the earlobes), nose, larynx, and tracheobronchial tree. Antibodies to matrillin-1 and collagen (type II, IX and XI) are…