PEDIATRICS Vol. 107 No. 2 February 2001, pp. 450-451
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To the Editor.
The findings of Drs Bachur and Harper1 in their report, "Reevaluation of Outpatients With Streptococcus pneumoniae Bacteremia," should cause them to rethink their emergency department's policy of using the complete blood count (CBC) to screen febrile children for occult bacteremia (OB).
Their protocol targets children 3 to 36 months old with a temperature
39°C and no identifiable source for the fever to have a blood
culture, CBC, and urine culture when appropriate. They recommend that
those children