Fever without localizing signs in children. Detection and management of occult bacteremia.

Occult bacteremia should be of major concern in the child with fever without localizing signs. A number of clinical features and laboratory findings correlate with the risk of bacteremia in such children, and their recognition permits the identification of a group of children at high risk. Treatment of such children with antibiotics on an ambulatory basis appears to significantly lessen the incidence of persistent bacteremia, subsequent meningitis, and other serious localized bacterial infections.